Shot In The Dark
by bitchinblackframedglasses
Summary: Part III of Sarah Wimkil's story. Left stinging from Draco's apparent betrayal, Sarah joins in the hunt for Voldemort's Horcruxes against the advice from the Order about her rapidly deteriorating health. Over time, unless it is removed, the mark on her arm will slowly kill her...and open her mind to incalculable danger.
1. Chapter 1

1

Sarah POV

Curled up in the window sill, I aimlessly watched the busy street in front of me. The city was very grimy, with cars speeding by and people smoking on street corners. The dark heavy clouds that hung down in the sky filled the streets with shadows and loneliness. Wand clutched tight in hand, I scanned the sky, street and people, looking for any sign of danger. Two transvestite prostitutes ambled up to a car, screeching with laughter. A goth kid clunked by in huge black boots, his artificial platinum blond hair ruined by dark roots growing in. The sight of him made my heart contract painfully. Malfoy seemed to haunt me everywhere, mocking my stupidity every day. Even though I had deep hate and disgust for him, his letter was still in my pocket. Looking away for the street for the first time in hours, I rubbed the crick in my neck. With a sigh, I pulled out his letter _again_ and stared at it. My blood had long since turned brown, making the letter look antique and dangerous. Not knowing why I was doing it, I flipped open the letter again.

_Dear Sarah,_

_I know that you will not accept an apology for what I've done. I'm sorry that I didn't keep my promise to you, even if you will never understand how sorry I really am. If my family wasn't involved, I would have taken your offer in a heartbeat. It is because of them that I regretfully remain 'loyal' to the Dark Lord. I wish I could tell you how grateful I am for you, and what you did for me this year. You are the first person I can really call a true friend, and it pains me more than you know to betray you. I'm worried about you; now that I've had to do this you'll be in terrible danger. I will constantly wonder if you are protected. However, I hope with all my being that the Order and your friends keep you safe. Your bravery and strength far transcends mine, which is why I'm groveling to you in the form of this letter. I would and will never have the strength to admit to my weaknesses in front of you- you've expected nothing but courage from me, but I am not that good of a person, no matter how highly you thought of me._

_There is something that I need you to do, not for me, but for the entire Wizarding World. Enclosed with this shameful letter is a set of directions that will lead you to a very dark object that you __**must**__ destroy. Once you find it, you'll understand that it does no favors for me and who I'm forced to stand by if you do succeed in destroying it. By directing you to it, I hope that I can make it clear to you that I am still and always on your side. _

_Stay safe, Sarah, and know that it is your friendship where my allegiance truly lies. _

_Draco_

Staring blankly at his straight, angular script, I felt conflicted. It gave me hope that I hadn't dreamed the sincerity of Draco's actions last year. It also made me fiercely angry and almost disappointed that he hadn't been brave enough to truly break from Voldemort. His letter also confused me greatly. I'd followed the directions during Dumbledore's funeral, and they'd lead me through the Room of Requirement to a corner that I'd never gone to, for it had felt wrong and dark. The object Malfoy wanted me to destroy was an old battered tiara that reeked of evil. When I laid eyes on it, I knew instantly that it was a Horcrux. How Malfoy had found it, and why he had deliberately went against Voldemort to give it to me left me baffled. I wanted to trust him again for handing me something so priceless, but it made me very suspicious at the same time. I'd kept it well hidden and protected with all sorts of enchantments in my belongings, just in case. The thing drove me mad, but I had no way to destroy it. I couldn't move it or take it out because of where I was. Folding the letter mechanically, I stuffed it back in my pocket and looked back out the window. Now that the Death Eaters were rising to power, Bellatrix would start hunting me down, if she hadn't already. Normally, the Order would have kept me locked up in Grimmauld Place, but Snape knew about it and how to get in. As a precaution, protective wards were put up against him and the place evacuated.

The Order had let me go home for a few days, and in that time I'd modified my parent's memories without regret and erased all evidence that I ever lived there. While I was there, I packed for the future, stealing a lot of camping supplies from my parent's basement with the knowledge that neither Ron, Harry nor Hermione knew how to cook very well. Once I was ready, the Order started having me live in different safe houses, changing locations every week to shake Bellatrix off. First I'd gone to Hestia Jones' tiny condo in London, then with Sirius to the ancient Potter estate, and then to Tonks' flat in Surrey. I'd recently been moved to Lupin's shabby house in Guildford. The place was a slum, which was all Lupin could probably afford. When he was at work I secretly cleaned and cooked things for him, even though he was a very neat person. One time I'd even hid in his closet for half the day and stitched firmer patches on his clothes. Those days ended fairly quickly when scary reports started coming in about disappearances and murders. Now I had to sit by or in the front window all day and keep and eye out for danger. There were only minimal wards around each safe house, but since I was 17 I could Apparate away if there was danger without being tracked. Having to keep the Horcrux I had with me a secret in four different homes of Aurors was difficult. I didn't have any communication with Hermione, Ron and Harry, which made me very nervous. Last summer I'd been secretly possessed, and being alone scared me. All I could do was watch the world go by, look for danger, and practice Occlumency. The maddening affect of doing nothing was a lot of stress. Everyone I'd stayed with asked me continuously if I was ok, because it was no longer a secret that I had epilepsy. Everyone knew all of my problems, which was incredibly embarrassing, but helpful. The Horcrux made me ill, but everyone thought it was all my stress, which was certainly a contributing factor, even if it wasn't the main cause.

Blinking out of another thoughtful stupor, I noticed Lupin had appeared, coming out of the tiny alley he Apparated to every day. I slid out of the window sill but watched him pass the transvestites and the goth kid, who was now chain smoking. Moving to the door, I made sure the letter was well out of sight and tightened my grip on my wand. Lupin knocked. "Where was I standing in the kitchen this morning when your toaster started on fire?" I asked, remembering how he'd insisted that I didn't have to cook and then almost made his toaster explode.

"By the fridge, ready to 'cook something decent.'" Lupin's tired voice came back, but with a hint of humor. "What did I tell you to do last night that you refused to do?"

"Take a sleeping potion before I went to bed." I scoffed, and opened the door, letting him in and quickly shutting it behind him. "And I won't take one tonight no matter what you say." I continued, hanging up his shabby cloak for him. "Now come here," I ordered, already heading for the kitchen. I didn't ask him at all about new reports coming in, it depressed us both. Luckily, he didn't bring it up, he only wearily insisted that I shouldn't have cooked and slumped into one of the chairs around the table, looking exhausted. Happy that I could now use magic whenever I wanted, I summoned the Bolognese I'd made earlier and the pasta and dished him up a plate. Lupin raised his fork, put it down, and then looked me right in the eye.

"Moody finally agreed to let you come." He said, and I felt myself grin for the first time all day. Moody had insisted that I couldn't go to move Harry to his safe house because I was 'fragile' and a 'possible danger to the mission'. It made me really angry, and I'd written him some very stern and furious letters via whichever Auror I was staying with, making my case as to why I should go. I couldn't believe that he'd finally caved!

"Excellent." I said, satisfied, and picked up my fork.

"It's tomorrow." He added, and I lowered the fork, surprised. Harry's move had been shrouded in secrecy, just like which safe house I was at, where I was going next, and who was protecting me. Sometimes I hadn't known until I got there. "Moody didn't want you and Harry at the same house either, but he figured it wasn't worth his time to argue with you. Tomorrow will be a double move; you'll have to pack." He said seriously.

"Where am I going this time?" I asked my pasta, twisting noodles around my fork.

"The Weasley's place," Lupin replied. "Hermione's joining your lot tomorrow too."

The day of the move, I woke early, restless. My sheets were tangled around my legs, taking me a few minutes to get out of bed. Somehow, my agitated sleeping hadn't woken up Lupin, who had woken me up before from wild dreams. When I padded in bare feet across his living room and to the window, I saw that the sun wasn't even up yet. Out of habit, I pulled out the phoenix-feather necklace Dumbledore had given me and rubbed my thumb over it, feeling the heat come and go as the feather burned then reformed. The street wasn't silent. Two cars roared past, evidently racing, and hookers still paraded up and down the cracked and weedy sidewalk. Inexplicably, I thought of Draco again, and my grip tightened on the necklace.

**OoOoOoO**

When Lupin got up, we made a hasty breakfast. Then I went to his rundown shabby guest bedroom where I'd been staying and packed. It didn't take long. I'd put an Extension Charm on my duffel bag so that everything would fit and be light. The few items that I'd used everyday where hastily packed into the duffel bag, and I carried it into the living room. For the rest of the day, Lupin and I sat anxiously in his dreary living room, him frequently checking his watch until he announced that it was time to go. For the first time since I'd arrived at his house, I left it, letting Lupin usher me down his front walk, wand at his side. As twilight fell, he Apparated us to the middle of a deserted park. A lot of people were already there, along with a giant motorbike and several brooms. As soon as we stepped forward, I realized that there were Thestrals among the group as well.

"Alrigh', Sarah?!" Hagrid boomed cheerfully, and I heard a tiny squeak before Hermione and her bushy hair nearly knocked me over with a hug.

"_I missed you!" _Hermione cried, pulling back and beaming at me. "I'm so glad you could come!"

"How are you?" I asked as Lupin disappeared in the tiny crowd to find Moody.

"My parents have moved to Australia." Hermione said flatly, glaring at the ground.

"That's funny, mine never had a daughter." I said lightly, giving her a reassuring squeeze. Hermione looked at me, and we shared a look of understanding.

"Oi! When'd you get here?!" The familiar and bewildered voice of Ron came from behind me.

"About a minute ago, actually," I replied after he'd given me a quick hug.

"Alright, alright, settle down." Moody snarled, parting the crowd and leaning heavily on his giant staff. "Listen closely. I will divide you all into teams and we will travel to Potter's house by either Thestral, motorcycle or broom. Once there, Potter will give us hair for Polyjuice Potion. Then the designated Potters will pair up with an Auror and fly to different safe houses. From those houses they will take Portkeys to the Burrow." Moody summarized the plan, his magical eye whizzing over the group. "Mundungus, you're with me. Hermione, you're with Bill. Ron, you're with Tonks. George, you're with Lupin, Fred is with Kingsley and Sarah, for the moment, is with Hagrid." Moody's voice got bitter as he said my name, and I met his gaze without flinching. "Let's go," he growled, and I left Ron and Hermione to find Hagrid. To my displeasure, he was sitting astride the giant motor bike, grinning from behind a giant pair of goggles.

"Ready ter go then?" he said, and patted the sidecar. Trying to keep my wits, I stuffed my duffel in the bottom and slid into the compartment. It was surprisingly roomy.

"NOW!" I heard Moody bellow, and Hagrid kicked the bike to life. We almost instantly rose into the air. Looking around as we flew, wand out, I saw Hermione and Bill riding on a Thestral and felt a pang of sympathy for her. The ride was short, and before I knew it, we were touching down in a spotless yard. As I was pulling myself out of the sidecar, the back door flew open and Harry ran into the yard, grinning broadly. Hagrid lifted me out fully by my collar and set me down on the ground. As I reached down to get out my duffle bag, I felt the prickling start in my fingers but ignored it. I'd gotten pretty good at managing the stress that started seizures. "Enough, enough! Everyone get inside, under cover." Moody instructed, shepherding all of us into Harry's house. Every surface in the kitchen literally sparkled. The place was practically sterile.

"Hey!" Harry greeted me enthusiastically, appearing by my shoulder. His appearance instantly reminded me about the Horcrux that was wrapped up and shrunk deep inside my bag. I'd put an Undetectable Extension Charm on my bag at Lupin's house so that it'd be light and easy to carry, but it also kept the Horcrux well hidden. It only slightly muddled the affects of the damn thing, however, and it was like a constant weight on my shoulders.

"Settle down! It's time that we all learned the plan back to front." Moody called for order in his gravelly voice, easily cutting through the loud chatter in the kitchen. As he started to explain the plan again to Harry in great detail, I rubbed my fingertips together, frowning. The tingling hadn't stopped, which wasn't a good sign. I didn't want Moody to regret bringing me along. As Moody explained why their first plan (one I hadn't even heard of) wasn't going to work, a harsh, terrible, gut-wrenching blitz of pain nearly cleaved my head open, making me shout in pain.

Bellatrix POV

Floating one hundred feet or so above the house we couldn't see, we formed a giant circle, ready to catch the boy as he was moved. The Dark Lord was going to be joining us shortly- and Potter wouldn't escape this time. After awhile, I noticed that there was a prickling in my fingertips that only came about when the Mudblood was nearby. Experimentally, I cut across her mental shield viciously and my mark twanged in response, the conformation I needed. "What's with you?" Selwyn barked, seeing my face break into a grin. Twirling my wand in my fingers, I looked down at the empty spot of land where the boy was hiding and felt a thrill of excitement.

"She's here," I smiled a feral smile, feeling her mind quake in shock and fear. I hadn't killed her when I had the chance, and that had been a mistake. Now would be the perfect opportunity. I might even keep her alive so that Potter could watch her die…

* * *

**A/N: Here it is, Part III of Sarah's story! Things will only get more and more dangerous from here... :)**


	2. Chapter 2

2

Sarah POV

After a second, the pain faded, then roared back again. My arm shot out instinctively to brace myself on the microwave, feeling sick. Bellatrix was here, extremely close by, which meant she wasn't alone. Wincing, I started to double over on myself as Bellatrix poked and prodded, each touch a stinging, icy lash. Harry backed off when he felt the air around me get cold- he knew exactly what the problem was. "What now?" Moody snarled, and I heard his leg thumping over to me, clearly irritated that he'd let me come.

"Death Eaters," I hissed around clenched teeth. Moody stopped, and feared silence spread through the kitchen. Seconds later, the place erupted with sound.

"Where?" Kingsley demanded.

"How?" Tonks asked stupidly.

"Who, how many?" Moody questioned.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I moved my hand off the microwave to the counter as I doubled farther over myself, preparing for the worst. Angry for not realizing it before, I carefully 'felt' the air around Harry's house. Above us, almost a hundred feet up were at least thirty or so Death Eaters, arranged in a donut shape, waiting.

"They're above us." I forced out, trying to ignore the pain. Straightening, I slowly opened my eyes, cautious for her next strike. Bellatrix would either attack me all at once or patronize me slowly until I just gave in. She was ruthless. "Thirty, maybe more, in a ring." I breathed, then shouted again, sinking lower than before as she sunk into the protective barrier around my head and hung on, like a parasite.

"We can't go tonight, then," Kingsley said instantly, sounding strained. "We'll have to wait."

"Don't be an idiot, Kingsley, we can't just stay here like sitting ducks!" Moody shot back, thinking hard.

"The plan won't work if they all give chase! If Bellatrix knows that Sarah's here, they know that we're all here. It's only a matter of time until Voldemort himself comes when the charm breaks naturally." Tonks said in a hard voice.

"Then how are we going to move him, then!?" Bill demanded. "If we can't Apparate and the Polyjuice Potion's out, what do you suggest we use!?" Silence fell again as the adults thought hard, trying to find a way out of this mess.

"We need to at least get the minors out." Lupin said tiredly, and there was an uproar.

"We're of age!" I heard the twins say together indignantly.

"I'm not going anywhere!" Hermione said defiantly, but she sounded shaken.

"Oi! I'm seventeen!" Ron argued.

"_Enough! _Fine, Sarah'll have to leave then." Moody roared over them, shutting them up.

"Like hell I am," I gasped, my back starting to shake. "If I wasn't here—you would've- flown into an ambush." Moody, obviously beaten by my logic, huffed and started to pace, his leg clunking in the same pattern every time. Everyone was quiet- they must've been letting him think. With a mumbled swearword, I let myself sit on the floor against some cabinets, jaw clenched. The color left my face as Moody thought furiously in silence.

"Sarah, there's a bed upstairs, if you want-" Harry started, but I barely shook my head silently, concentrating with all my might on having protective shields with iron strength. Frustrated, Bellatrix circled around me, making my skin drop to a colder temperature.

Finally, Moody spoke, sounding unsure. "Wimkil, I've been thinking about your idea." He said. He was referring to the information I'd passed through Sirius about how _I_ thought Harry should be moved. I'd suggested that an Undetectable Extension Charm be put on a bag and that Harry would be put in it. The Charm's effects would muddle with the Trace and allow someone to Apparate with him in the bag. Moody had turned it down, saying that it was extremely difficult to Apparate with that much weight on your back.

"It won't work now, someone casting the charm would register on Harry's trace." Kingsley interjected.

"What plan?" half a dozen voices chorused over Kingsley.

"Wimkil offered her own plan to move Potter to the safe house. If you put an Undetectable Extension Charm on a bag, Potter'd fit inside it. He could be Apparated to safety in the bag." Moody explained, sounding strained.

"Brilliant, except for that spell would register on Harry's Trace if we did it now." Kingsley repeated.

"My bag's already charmed." I whispered, and I heard someone grab it and peer inside.

"Blimey, that's actually kind of roomy. It'll be like the tent at the Quidditch World Cup." I heard George say sarcastically.

"It's the only plan we've got, alright?" Moody snarled, making him shut up. "But we can't leave yet tonight, they'll be expecting that, after all." He added thoughtfully.

"Don't be a prat, Moody, she can't stay here that long! What if-" Tonks started, then quickly stopped talking, keeping herself from saying something.

"What if, _what?"_ Ron said loudly, sounding accusing. I felt my forehead crease as Bellatrix stopped moving around my barrier as if she found a spot she liked. Any second now she'd attack again.

"What if Sarah's possessed again? Bellatrix would find out the plan, and she could lure Sarah out of the house to give away its location." Tonks said very quietly.

"For Merlin's sake, let's just have Harry Apparate with someone in the bag now. The rest of us can stay here. If one person goes, it'll be less noticeable." Bill said convincingly after another short pause. _**You're dead, Mudblood.**_ Bellatrix's voice suddenly echoed in my ears, and then she attacked. Hearing everyone shout in surprise as I shrieked, starting to thrash on the floor, it sparked the deep vat of anger that I'd had brewing in me all summer. With surprising viciousness, even to me, I attacked her right back. Slashing, cutting and stabbing, I forced her back quickly, hitting hard and not hesitating for anything. I heard her roar with frustration when I sealed my barrier again.

"M'okay," I groaned, slowly sitting up, trying to get the harsh smell of bleach out of my head from having my face on the floor. Opening streaming eyes, I saw Tonks kneeling a foot away from me with Moody. Everyone else had backed off, giving me room.

"That's it. We're leaving here as soon as possible." Moody said decisively. In my haste to get up, I staggered and nearly knocked over a bowl of fruit on the counter I fell onto with a low hissing sound; vocalizing my pain. "Sit," Moody growled, and a thick arm wrapped around my waist and forced me into a chair.

"Here, Harry, let's try getting you in Sarah's bag." Lupin said, sounding harried. I'd had a seizure at his house and it'd made him really nervous about them ever since.

"But-" Harry started, but was interrupted as half the kitchen told him to get on with it. I heard a quiet thud about three seconds later.

"Alright in there?" Lupin called as I leaned over my knees, cradling my head in my hands. Bellatrix was furious, stalking around my head again in dizzying circles. She wouldn't be so surprised with my ferocity next time, and it would come down to Occlumency skills and brute strength.

"Yeah," Harry called back, sounding a long ways away.

"Right, up you get." Tonks tried to sound cheerful, putting me back on my feet. Blinking, I caught my balance on her arm, then nodded stiffly, letting go. Harry and his stuff had disappeared, and my duffel bag was open on the kitchen table.

"Everyone choose a side of the house to Apparate from. Apparate to at least ten spots before going to your safe house. Then take your Portkey to the Burrow. Got it?" Moody barked, zipping up my bag and hefting it onto his shoulder. I heard a loud bang and Harry swear just as loudly from inside it. "_Go!"_ Moody snarled.

"You'll be Apparating with the twins." Tonks told me brightly, and I nodded, giving them a ghost of a smile as I gingerly walked to stand between them.

"Come on then," George encouraged, having to reach down to put an arm around my shoulders, steering me out of the kitchen. The twins chose the southwest corner of the property, and Bellatrix flew over to hover right above it, feeling that I was there.

"Ready?" Fred said cheerfully, and I drew my wand, looking above us.

"Just do it," I said shakily, and the twins and I stepped out of the charm.

"_Sercumsemptra!"_ A female voice shrieked instantly, and George yelled in pain, then I shrieked as her spell cut across the back of my neck, shoulder and back. Seconds later, we were in crushing darkness. We appeared in the middle of nowhere, and George fell on top of me. Swearing, Fred pushed him off and then gasped. Wiggling out from underneath George, something heavy fell into my lap. Looking down, I saw my own braid, severed at an angle. My head felt very light- she'd cut it off so that my hair was now ear length.

"Merlin, Sarah, help me!" Fred shouted, sounding panicked. Getting to my feet, feeling hot blood ooze down my neck and shoulder, I saw that George was on the ground, the side of his head covered in blood. His left ear was gone, cut off by Bellatrix's spell. It had cut across his ear, my back, and Fred's arm. Without thinking about it, I started muttering spells, siphoning off blood and slowly stopping the bleeding from the gaping, ugly hole on the side of his head. "Can you grow back his ear?" Fred asked, voice trembling.

"Not when it's been cursed off." I said bitterly, and closed the wound on Fred's arm. "Where are we?" I asked him after taking a deep breath, and he shrugged.

"I think the closest abandoned field I could find, why?" He asked, and I bolted to my feet, stuffing my braid in my pocket. We couldn't leave any trace that we'd been here.

"We need to leave as soon as possible." I said sharply, trying to Vanish blood off the ground. We had all bled here- it would draw her like a magnet. Suddenly I got freezing cold as something seriously Dark appeared a few feet away. I gasped, stiffening like a board, my face draining of color-

"Duck!" Fred bellowed suddenly, and I did as I was told, feeling a curse go by my head so fast it ruffled my now short hair. I grabbed Fred and George and Apparated. This time we fell out of the air from a few feet up and landed on rock. I'd lost energy fast as Bellatrix had appeared from nowhere; I'd almost Splinched us. We were now on a rock formation in Wales, far away from Privet Drive.

"Sorry," I panted, then swore, leaping over George to get to Fred. The curse had missed me but hit him right in the chest. "Fred. Fred!" I shouted to no one in particular, trying not to panic. "_Ennervate!" _I tried, and lo and behold, it worked. Fred sat up fast then relaxed, seeing that we had gotten away. "You ok?" I asked, giving him some space and checking on George, who was stirring.

"Yeah, you?" He said, getting to his feet, then he whistled, making me look up sharply. "You lost your hair." He said stupidly, and I was suddenly laughing- of course that would be what he'd notice first.

"That bitch hit all of us," I said bitterly, sitting back on my heels, trying to quell my shaking hands. We'd been incredibly lucky so far, but Bellatrix was out for blood.

"We should move, Bellatrix wasn't alone that time." Fred said after silently stopping the blood flow on the cut on the back of my neck.

"Who was she with?" I asked, confused. Filling with dread, I wondered if all the Death Eaters were coming after us. However, that would only happen if Harry was safe. The second biggest (and, regrettably, easiest) target was me.

"Voldemort." Fred said shakily, and I looked at him in shock. Harry must have been safe if Voldemort was chasing us down. It was a relief to hear that Harry was safe, but now we were all in serious danger.

"Harry must be safe then, he's going for the next target." I tried to see the positive in our situation, and George sat up with a groan. "Take it easy," I advised him, handing him his wand. He took it slowly.

"Blimey, what happened?" He said, feeling gingerly around the hole. I was about to reply when my head burst open with pain, as if someone had taken a knife to it.

"_Lethargus!"_ Bellatrix shrieked from nowhere, and there was a high, cold laugh- then nothing.


	3. Chapter 3

3

Fred POV

As Sarah suddenly choked, eyes fluttering shut, Bellatrix appeared on the rocks a few meters away, and with her, Voldemort. Panic sealed my chest as I got a full look at his face. It was white, snake like, with red cat shaped eyes that had thin slotted pupils. "_Lethargus!" _Bellatrix shrieked, taking aim with her wand. Frozen with shock, I did nothing. Acting fast, George grabbed a fistful of my shirt and Sarah's front and Apparated. Panting, we landed hard on an asphalt strip of road. Planes roared over head.

"Merlin," George croaked, but I ignored him, lurching forward and turning Sarah over, who'd fallen and not gotten up. "What's wrong with her?" He asked, crawling over with a wince. I gave Sarah a little shake with no effect.

"It was Bellatrix's spell." I said angrily, putting two and two together. Sarah could've been sleeping if her body wasn't ice cold. Just to reassure myself, I felt for a pulse and was relieved to find one. "Right," I said quickly, getting to my feet and scooping Sarah up, trying not to panic again. "Where the hell are we?" I asked, looking around.

"This airfield Dad kept prattling on about," George said dismissively, getting up too, healing his skinned knees quickly. "Damn, we missed the Portkey," He added, checking his watch.

"Straight home then?" I said bravely, shifting Sarah in my arms so that her head didn't loll as badly.

"Yeah," George said, and I touched his shoulder. For the last time we Apparated right outside the fence. "Hello?!" He yelled at the house, opening the gate for me. Sarah didn't weigh much, I probably could've opened it myself. From inside there was suddenly a chorus of scraping chairs as people poured out of the kitchen. Kingsley led the charge, followed closely by Harry who was pale. Shortly after him came Dad and Lupin, then Mum.

"What happened?" They all demanded at once.

"All of you, come inside." Dad insisted, pushing everyone back in the house.

"George, what happened to your _ear?!"_ Mum shrieked, going over to him and stretching to see the dark, clean hole on the side of his head and his blood drenched shirt. "Fred, follow me," Mum ordered after she'd gotten a good look at the missing ear, letting go of George for the moment and dragging me down the hallway to Bill's room.

"What spell was it?" Mum demanded as I set Sarah carefully down on Bill's bed and hastily stepping back, almost bumping into Moody and Kingsley as the came in, squeezing through the crowd at the door.

"I _heard _it better, it was 'Lethargus'," George joked weakly from the doorway. Moody shot him a sharp look, clomping over next to Mum.

"It's a darker form of 'stupefy' in the sense that it's a lot more powerful." He explained gruffly, drawing his wand wearily. "Suscitatio." He growled, moving his wand in a sharp, jabbing motion. With a huge, shuddering gasp, as if she'd been doused in ice cold water, Sarah sat straight up, color flooding back into her face. Panting, her eyes lost their panicked look as she looked quickly around, seeing everyone crowded in the doorway.

"Is everyone back?" She asked anxiously, pushing away Mum's arm as she got off of Bill's bed.

"Everyone made it unscathed except you three." Mum said, making her at least sit on the edge of the bed.

"She tracked us down twice. As soon as we stepped out of the barrier at Privet Drive to Apparate she was already firing hexes." Sarah said in a brittle voice.

"The one that hit us first was Sercumsemptra." George said humorlessly, gesturing to his ear.

"That's how I lost this," Sarah said with a sigh, taking her long braid out of her pocket and plopping it on the bed next to her. Without it she looked bald and even more fragile. It was eerie, almost, to see her so…unprotected.

"Your hair," Harry said stupidly, just like I'd done, but Sarah didn't smile. "See, this is why I have to leave," Harry said forcefully, obviously in reference to something he'd said while were still gone, "Everyone is getting hurt because of me!" He added furiously, turning to go.

"Sit your arse down," Sarah ordered in a surprisingly hard voice, and Harry sighed, turning back around and sitting on the bed too.

"Alright, clear out, you lot. Sarah, I'll bring you some tea," Mum said kindly, shooing everyone out of the way. Most of the Order turned to follow her, and as George and I left, Hermione and Ron sat down too before the door swung shut.

Sarah POV

"Don't you understand? He's tracking down the people that are the most important to me! You're the easiest target 'cause Bellatrix can find you!" Harry looked mutinous as he glared down at my severed braid.

"I don't care. Dumbledore wanted me to stay with you; he made me promise that I would. As I demonstrated earlier, I can tell when Death Eaters are around instantly." I said humorlessly. "You need Hermione and Ron just as strongly. Don't deny it." I continued dryly, then thanked Mrs. Weasley for the cup of tea she gave me. We waited until she'd left before anyone spoke again.

"You ok?" Ron asked as I took a sip of the tea.

"I need a haircut," I growled, mood darkening as I reached a hand back to feel how short my hair was. I felt naked without it my braid. Ron burst out laughing, and Harry and Hermione joined in, sounding relieved.

In the days leading up to Bill and Fleur's wedding, Lupin, Kingsley and Mrs. Weasley tried to get each of us in turn to spill about why we were dropping out of school this year, but none of said a word. Mrs. Weasley cropped my hair shorter to make it even, and I ended up with almost a pixie cut. **(Picture for profile, take this off before posting! **** /img/arts/2010/Aug/10/298/pixie_messy_ **** ) **I saved the braid, putting it in my duffle bag simply because I couldn't bear to throw it away. I'd loved my hair, and every morning when I tried to braid hair that wasn't there only deepened the loss. I had no time to mourn though; Mrs. Weasley kept the four of us extremely busy so that we couldn't plan for the future. When we did get a moment alone, we all converged in Ron's bedroom, where Harry tried once again to make us reconsider going with him. It set Hermione off in a rather large rant.

"Let's see, we're all packed, ready to leave at a moment's notice, which had included incredibly difficult magic, including sneaking all of Mad-Eye's Polyjuice Potion right from underneath his nose. Sarah and I have modified our parents' memories so that they don't remember who we are, and they've moved out of the country." Hermione continued, her voice getting more strained. For her, it had been extremely difficult, but for me it'd been easy.

"It's like we never existed." I added patting Hermione on the back as she sniffled. Harry and Ron looked aghast at what we'd done. "Also, Hermione and I have both been doing research on Horcruxes after we had to steal the books from Dumbledore's office." I added, reaching down into my pack and feeling around for my share of them, finally yanking out a battered grey book covered in horrible brown stains. Discreetly, I reached back in as Hermione lectured the boys on how to destroy a Horcrux and pretended to restack books. I was really tucking the tiara further down into the bag, making sure that it was still wrapped up tight. I was dying to show it to my friends so that we could get rid of it for good, be we had no means of destroying it, not at the Burrow.

Our discussion on Horcruxes ended as soon as it had begun as the Delacours' arrived, making the Burrow become extremely cramped. Harry's birthday rolled around, and I felt terrible when I had an impromptu seizure at the breakfast table, ruining Harry's birthday. Luckily, his birthday brought even more visitors to the Burrow, and I was quickly forgotten. Hagrid, Lupin and Tonks joined us, and I fell into quiet discussion with Tonks about how the Holly Harpies had been doing in the Quidditch League. Mrs. Weasley was on edge- Mr. Weasley was late. As we sat around, staring at the snitch cake, the silver glow of a Patronus sped across the lawn and stopped on the table. It formed into a weasel on its hind legs. Mr. Weasley's voice came out of it sounding slightly strained. "Minister of Magic coming with me." The Patronus vanished then. Lupin sprang to his feet, saying hurriedly that he and Tonks shouldn't have been there. He grabbed her wrist and the two of them quickly vaulted over the fence and vanished. Before anyone could say a word, Mr. Weasley and the grizzled form of Rufus Scrimgeour appeared out of thin air.

"Sorry to intrude," The Minister said, coming into the lantern light. He looked more worn than Lupin, but his eyes were sharp, raking over the party and Harry's giant snitch cake. "But I require a private word with you," He said to Harry, "and also with Mr. Ronald Weasley, Ms. Hermione Granger, and Ms. Sarah Wimkil."

"Us?" Ron said in surprise. "Why us?"

"I shall tell you when we are in a more private place. Is there such a place?" He demanded, turning to Mr. Weasley, who told Ron to take the group to the sitting room. As the four of us led the way, I had a gut feeling that Scrimgeour wasn't here to question us about dropping out of Hogwarts- this had to be something infinitely more important. The Minister didn't make house-calls like this unless it concerned the Ministry. Harry, Ron and Hermione squeezed onto the couch while I leaned on its back, all of us facing the Minister as he sank into the old armchair that Mr. Weasley usually sat in. After he tried and failed to split us up to talk with each of us separately, he spoke. "I am here, as you probably already know, because of the will of Albus Dumbledore." He said, and I felt my eyebrows rise; Hermione, Ron and Harry exchanging shocked looks. "A surprise apparently! Didn't you know that Dumbledore had left you-"

"Why are we getting this now?" Harry demanded, and Scrimgeour gave him a hard look. Hermione answered for him, telling the boys what I already knew- that the Ministry had thirty one days to go over Dumbledore's will before they had to surrender the objects passed down in it to their rightful owners. Looking disgruntled, Scrimgeour turned back to the will.

"_To Ronald Bilius Weasley, I leave my Deluminator, in the hope that he will remember me when he uses it."_ Scrimgeour read, rummaging in his bag and pulling out a silver cigarette lighter. Passing it to Ron, he scrutinized and questioned him closely before going back to the will.

"_To Hermione Jean Granger, I leave my copy of _The Tales of the Beetle Bard_ in hopes that she will find it entertaining and instructive." _He continued, pulling out a book and passing it to Hermione. It was very old, with a peeling spine and yellowed pages. As Hermione started to tear up, refusing to answer questions, he read from the will again.

"_To Harry James Potter, I leave the Snitch he caught in his first Quidditch match at Hogwarts, as a reminder of the rewards of perseverance and skill." _His voice turned sour as he handed Harry the snitch. Harry took it slowly, looking let down. Pressing on when Harry also refused to answer any questions, the Minister revealed that the Ministry was keeping the sword of Godric Gryffindor because it didn't 'belong' to Harry. Fuming, my three friends went to leave, fed up with Scrimgeour when he cleared his throat, picking up the will again.

"_To Sarah Emma Wimkil I leave my phoenix so that she may always remember their extraordinary powers." _He read in a hard, clear voice, making me freeze. I had not expected Dumbledore to leave me anything, and certainly not his phoenix, something that had been so personal for him. For the first time, Scrimgeour looked at me closely, frowning. He'd grilled my friends on each of their new belongings, and I knew that it was my turn now. He looked puzzled- compared to Ron and Hermione, who were long time friends of Harry's, I was relatively unknown. "The Ministry wasn't aware of your…connections…with Mr. Potter and Dumbledore." He started, leaning forward, his sharp eyes looking at me directly. Internally, I cursed myself for having a seizure just this morning- I still looked beat up and sick.

"I didn't know it was the Ministry's business, sir." I said dispassionately, and he scowled. I saw Harry start to grin before he ducked his head to hide it.

"Are you _ill,_ Ms. Wimkil?" He pressed, and I stopped leaning on the couch, standing up straight with a scowl equal to his.

"That's not any of your business either. Where is he, then?" I talked over him as he went to question me further, clearly meaning Fawkes. His chin got stiff, as if he had just been thwarted of something he had dearly wanted.

"The will instructs for him to be called by name. He would not respond to the Ministry." He said, clearly irritated. Turning an expectant gaze on me, Scrimgeour waited for me to call him.

"Fawkes?" I asked, feeling stupid, then leapt about a foot in the air when flames exploded from nowhere. With a musical cry, he settled down on my shoulder. His warm, light weight made me feel normal, like I'd never been marked at all. Displeased with his lack of answers, Scrimgeour left angrily, leaving the four of us to return to the party. As we dug into the cake and food, the Deluminator, book and snitch were passed around and inspected. Fawkes, on the other hand, sat on my shoulder the whole time, once and awhile letting out a quiet, musical cry. He didn't look as happy as he had last year when Dumbledore was still alive. At the end of the night, when the four of us were finally alone, we carefully exchanged the contents of Dumbledore's will with each other, trying to figure out why they'd really been left to us. Still clueless as to why the snitch, book and Deluminator had been left to my friends, I went to bed, Fawkes sleeping close by, head tucked under his wing.


	4. Chapter 4

4

Sarah POV

The day of the wedding, Hermione and I got up early, even before Mrs. Weasley. We combed through the house, looking for any objects we might have left behind that we'd need on our mission for Horcruxes. Since Harry's Trace was officially broken, we were free to leave at any time, and Hermione and I agreed that after the wedding would be a good time to go. The boys were, as usual, oblivious to the whole thing. When Mrs. Weasley got up, we helped her make breakfast, which was a loud, busy affair. Once she'd shooed us away, Hermione and I joined Ginny to get dressed for the ceremony. My dress was fairly simple: light blue, strapless, with a satin bow tied around the waist. It stopped above my knees. I'd chosen it simply because it'd be easier to change out of once the wedding was over. **(Picture for profile, remove before posting! **** . **** ) **

Harry was forced to take a huge amount of Polyjuice Potion to appear as a slightly fat red-head boy from the village. He was going to be 'Cousin Barny', a Weasley. The four of us were then made to chaperone arriving guests to seats. It was a dull, boring job, especially when I got to take Ron's Auntie Muriel to her seat. The woman was a crone, yelling at almost the top of her lungs that I looked like a transvestite boy with too short of a dress. Once everyone was finally in their seats, the wedding started. The ceremony was beautiful, but I didn't cry like Hermione did. I'd always been opposed to marriage, it didn't seem very realistic to me. As soon as the ceremony was over, the tent transformed into a dance floor, with waiters appearing bearing trays and champagne bottles floated around of their accord. Ron immediately asked Hermione to dance, something I thought was cute. For awhile, I sat with Harry, and we observed Luna dancing by herself in a strange fashion. Then, _Viktor Krum_ of all people came over and sat down next to me. I saw Harry bristle with dislike as Krum scooted closer to talk to me. Harry and Ron had always complained that he was a surly bastard, but up close he seemed nice. His accent was extremely thick, and he had a large, protruding nose. "Vud you like to dance?" He asked finally, and I let him take my hand and lead me to the dance floor, despite Harry's now furious expression. Viktor turned out to be a great dancer, and it made me grateful for the ballroom dance lessons my parents had made me take to be more 'grandiose'. "You are a very good dancer," He commented as we switched effortlessly from the foxtrot to the waltz.

"Thanks," I said, flashing him a quick smile. He didn't return it though, he looked right past me with a fierce scowl on his face. Turning, I saw that he was staring at Xenophillius Lovegood, who was dressed in a shocking yellow color and pouring a dark purple liquid into his cup from a flask he'd brought himself. "What's wrong?" I asked as Viktor resumed the dance, still scowling.

"I should hex him vor vearing that vilthy sign on his chest." He growled, spinning us a little faster in his anger. During the spin, I saw Xenophillius again, and, more importantly, a strange triangular eye that he wore around his neck.

"Is it a dark symbol?" I asked after he'd spun me under his arm.

"It is Grindelvald mark. It is carved into the valls at Durmstrang, my old school. Do not misunderstand," He added, seeing the look on my face, "Durmstrang is no longer a dark school. All the students there, myself included, do not study the dark arts. We get vands from a good vand maker."

"Who, Ollivander?" I asked, and he chuckled, a low, deep sound.

"No, No. Gregorovitch. He lives in Germany." He explained, and I felt a shoot of excitement. Harry had told us about a dream he'd had, and about how Voldemort was after the same man. But why would he go after a wand maker? And could that mark around Xenophillius' neck really be the sign of Grindelwald, the second darkest wizard of all time?

"For going to Hogwarts, I feel very uneducated," I admitted, and he chuckled again. As we waltzed gracefully past Ron and Hermione, I saw Ron's mouth drop open and resisted the urge to laugh.

"How is it at Hogvarts?" He asked, "I have not been there since the Trivizard Tournament."

"Everyone took Dumbledore's death a little hard," I said carefully, "But the school is as open and friendly as always."

"I vas sorry to hear of his passing," Viktor added, and we dropped our arms as the waltz ended. "Vould you like a drink?" He asked, and I nodded, wondering if I could get more information from him on Gregorovitch. He vanished into the crowd and I sat at the nearest table, wondering how to broach the subject. On a quick pass around the room, I saw Hermione and Ron still dancing, and that Harry was locked in an intense conversation with a weezy old man and Auntie Muriel. Viktor returned and I sipped the drink he'd gotten me aimlessly for a moment, then spoke.

"I was wondering if you could tell me more about Gregorovitch. He sounds fascinating." I said, leaning closer to him on purpose, crossing my legs. I wasn't the best at flirting, but Viktor instantly inched closer as well, catching on.

"He is a very old vand maker, older than your Ollivander. He vas an exclusive contract with Durmstrang to make vands for the students." He said, his voice lower and more throaty. "He is an expert in vand lore. At one point, there vas a rumor, long ago, that he vad the most powervul vand in the vorld." He continued, his voice getting more and more alluring.

"The _most_ powerful?" I said suggestively, cringing on the inside at what I was doing. "And what would _that_ be called?"

"The Elder Vand," Krum whispered in my ear, and I faked a laugh, taking a sip of my drink while I thought frantically. I'd never heard of an 'Elder Wand'. It didn't seem legit that one wand would be more powerful than all others. Suddenly, a terrible, wrenching pain filled my gut, making me drop my glass with a gasp. It shattered onto the floor, drenching my feet. "Are you alright?" Krum asked, eyes roaming over my face as it paled rapidly. My fingers were burning- I needed to get somewhere private, now was _not _the time to have a seizure.

"Excuse me for a moment, please," I whispered, and instantly stood, taking long strides to quickly get out of the tent, then running on shaky legs towards the tent set up for presents for the bride and groom. It was deserted. Almost as soon as I stepped inside, I lost control. The sounds of music and laughter abruptly cut off, something that scared me. I'd always been able to hear the world around me during a seizure. Then-

_Silently slashing down a Ministry Security Officer with the Killing Curse, I turned, observing our progress. The Ministry was putting up a pitiful fight to remain independent from the presence of the Dark Lord. The Security Officers were dropping like flies. The only strong fighters were the Aurors, spread out among the fight. As our fight raged on for a minute longer, I saw one cast a Patronus and then vanish. At his signal, the few remaining fighters Apparated away, leaving us the Ministry. "YESSSS!" I screamed our victory, casting the Dark Mark up into the dome of the Atrium, obscuring all the light and the Minister's portrait. "Bring him to me." I demanded, and Selwyn and Yaxley vanished. I was under direct orders from the Dark Lord to kill Rufus Scrimgeour. As they brought him forward, bleeding heavily from a cut on his arm, I felt a feral smile grace my face. This was the end of the resistance. "Avada Kedavra!" I shrieked-_

I gasped sharply, a quiet scream, eyes flying open. I was lying on the tent floor, looking up at the canopied ceiling, sprawled at a weird angle. _The Ministry had fallen. The Minister was dead._ All of the protective enchantments around the Burrow were gone. Still shaking from the seizure, I bolted to my feet and ran back to the tent, not caring that I was shoving people aside. Harry was still sitting where I'd left him, staring in shock at Auntie Muriel. Without a word, I grabbed his collar and hauled him out of the chair. I dragged him across the floor, ignoring his protests, and found Ron and Hermione. "The Ministry just fell." I breathed, letting go of Harry's collar but putting a trembling hand on his shoulder for support. "Scrimgeour is dead. We have to leave right now." Hermione nodded, looking scared, and hooked arms with Harry and Ron, Apparating without another word. As planned, we landed on the front stoop to Grimmauld Place.

"What is going on?" Ron demanded after we'd made it past the protective enchantments against Snape. I plopped onto a chair and held onto the armrests with shaking hands. "Why'd we leave, we have no supplies, we didn't tell anyone what's going on-"

"Kingsley sent a Patronus. He was at the fight." I said quietly, talking over Ron. "And Hermione and I have been planning for something like this for weeks."

"Here," Hermione said, opening her tiny beaded bag and rummaging around in it. After a moment, she pulled out changes of clothes for everyone. I accepted mine but put them down on the floor next to me, knowing that I had a lot of explaining to do before I would have a chance to change.

"So…you saw the fight…_through_ Bellatrix?" Ron asked slowly, and I grimaced.

"I didn't just see it…I was Bellatrix. She murdered Scrimgeour for Voldemort."

"So you had a seizure? Where? I lost sight of you with Krum and thought-well-" Harry cut himself off, flushing. I couldn't help it, I laughed.

"Yeah, I had a seizure, but _alone_ in the wedding presents' tent. And Krum was actually extremely useful."

"What, so you could flirt?" Ron said accusingly, and I threw a pillow at his head.

"_No, _because we got to talking about Gregorovitch." I said patiently, and Harry bolted up straight, recognizing the name instantly. "He's a German wand maker, according to Viktor Krum. Apparently he's a master of wand lore, and was rumored to have something called the 'Elder Wand', a wand that _supposedly_ is stronger than any other wand in the world."

"What else did _Viktor _say?" Ron sniggered, and only when I pointed my wand at him did he shut up.

"He mentioned that he hated this sign Luna's dad was wearing; apparently it's the sign of Gellert Grindelwald, something I highly doubt." I said, suddenly exhausted, and lowered my wand.

"Why would Voldemort want to find a wand maker? To try to get a new wand, one that could beat yours, Harry?" Hermione brainstormed thoughtfully. Harry shook his head, looking as if he was thinking just as hard.

"If Gregorovitch had 'the most powerful wand', I'd think Voldemort would want that, and not a new wand." He said, then perked up, storing those thoughts for later. "You wouldn't believe what I heard about Dumbledore," he said, and hastily told us everything about his sister, and how downright standoffish he'd apparently been. As he spoke and the three of them started to debate, I felt more and more tired, like I was sinking into a puffy bed and couldn't get out of it. It was a peculiar feeling that I couldn't shake.

"What do you think, Sarah? Sarah?" Hermione called, going from excited looking to concerned, seeing something in my expression. My eyes rolled, back, eliminating her worried face, and they opened to a completely different scene.

_Standing in a ring around the depleted and filthy house of the blood traitors, we fired hexes into the windows where the family and a few Aurors were fighting us back. Most of the guests at their party had been fleeing when we arrived. After a while of going back and forth, I called us off. Potter was an 'adult' now, and he'd probably Apparated away as soon as we'd arrived. Besides, my little Mudblood treat was nowhere in the vicinity. In fact, I couldn't feel her anywhere nearby, a great disappointment. A smile grew on my face as I daydreamed how I'd like to see her scream for mercy-_

"OI!" I heard Ron bellow, and I opened my eyes and blinked a few times. Hermione, Harry and Ron were crowded around me, looking up at my face with horrified expressions. "You had this _look_ on your face, is everything alright?" Ron continued in a quieter voice, and I remembered how in the 'dream' Bellatrix had started to smile her trademark feral smile as she'd thought of making me scream for mercy.

"They attacked the Burrow for awhile, but then left when it was clear that Harry and I weren't there. I didn't see any bodies, and no one was captured." I rattled off, rubbing my temples tiredly, trying not to think of Bellatrix's murderous thoughts.

"How are you doing that?" Hermione asked after a second, and I reclined with a frustrated shrug, opening my eyes again.

"It's like I'm dreaming- it's not like a seizure anymore; I don't hear anything and it doesn't hurt as bad. I have no idea what it is." I admitted, and the three of them slowly sat back, pondering everything we'd learned tonight and how we'd proceed into the future.


	5. Chapter 5

5

Sarah POV

The next morning, Hermione, Ron and I found Harry aimlessly searching through Sirius' things, evidently curious. We then spent another hour combing through the room together, but nothing was helpful. As Hermione, Ron and Harry started down the stairs, I paused, noticing another door all the way down the hall, as far away from Sirius' room as possible. It was so dingy and dark that it barely stood out from the wall. There was something about it, some lingering presence of dark magic that made me pause. Turning, I started back down the hallway. As I got closer, I saw the sign on the door.

**The Room of Regulus Arcturus Black**

The longer I looked, the more obvious it became. **R**egulus **A**rcturus **B**lack. **RAB. **They were the same initials that were inside the fake Horcrux. "Guys!" I shouted, and after a short pause, they ran back up the steps, thinking that something was wrong. "Look, and tell me what you see," I said, stepping back and lighting my wand so they could see it better.

"RAB!" Hermione gasped, running her fingers over the fading and spiky letters on the plaque.

"_Alohamora." _I said, and the door swung open. Wasting no time, Harry ducked in first, flicking his wand to move back the heavy, dusty curtains. Clouds of dust puffed up and spun crazily down to the floor. The whole room was dark and adorned in Slytherin colors; the exact opposite of Sirius' room. Silently setting to work, we looked at every inch of his room without much success. Frustrated, Hermione plopped onto the bed, raising more dust, and stared at the window, thinking hard.

"Where could he have put the locket before he died?" She asked finally.

"It sounds like you're assuming that he died in his pursuit to get the Horcrux itself." I said, trying to think like Hermione, running my fingers over the windowsill, feeling the sun on my face. To think that a boy not much older than me had died doing the same thing I was now trying to do was kind of frightening.

"It's the most…I dunno, logical." Ron said, then smiled to himself when Hermione beamed at him. Ron had been sucking up to her lately, and I had to admit that it was cute.

"Sarah, can you feel a Horcrux?" Harry asked. Glad my back was turned, I took a moment to answer, unsure of how to reply to his question without giving myself away.

"I have a feeling I could." I said quietly, feeling the smooth grain of the windowsill pass under my fingertips. If only they knew.

"So it's not in the house." Harry continued, and after a second, I shook my head. The only Horcrux in the house was buried deep in my bag.

"_In the house!" _Hermione exclaimed suddenly, and I turned from the window. She looked shocked, like she'd just realized something really important. "When we were cleaning out this place there was a locket, remember? We put it in the rubbish pile…" Hermione whispered, horrified. Confused, I looked between Ron, Hermione and Harry but they offered no answer, only looked at each other in shock.

"Maybe Kreacher's got it! He was always stealing stuff!" Ron added, and stopped leaning back on an ancient looking desk.

"It's not here, Ron," I reminded him, and he scowled at the floor.

"But I can still call him and ask him questions. Come on," Harry said, and we left, trooping back into the kitchen. As soon as we were all situated, Harry said, "Kreacher?" With a loud _crack_ a very old and grumpy looking elf appeared, with heavily squinted eyes narrowed even further in distaste.

"Master Harry," He croaked in a deep, bullfrog like voice, doing a jerky, obviously forced bow. "Back in my Mistresses' old house with the blood-traitor Weasley and the Mudblood and-" He turned his eyes on me when Harry rebuked him for calling Hermione a Mudblood and didn't look away. I didn't like the way he looked at me. Most people I'd met now that I had the Mark always stared a little because of how generally ill I looked, but this was different. Kreacher was looking at me like he _knew_ why I looked so ill. It was unnerving. As Harry questioned him on the locket, Kreacher got more and more upset, telling us everything about how Regulus Black died stealing the real Horcrux and how Voldemort had left Kreacher to die in the same position. As he sobbed and cried on the floor, the connections between Regulus Black and the four of us seemed even more apparent to me. When we went after the other two, what would happen to us? Would one of us, or all of us die in the attempt?

"Kreacher, I want you to find Mundungus Fletcher. We want to find that locket and finish Master Regulus's work." Harry said after the poor elf had stopped bawling.

"Find Mundungus Fletcher?" The elf croaked, and _again,_ his eyes slid over to me. He looked torn. He obviously wanted to continue his obligation to his original Master, but something about me was distracting him.

"Kreacher, this is Sarah," Harry said, sounding as puzzled as I was at his reaction.

"So very pale," Kreacher croaked, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. "Like Master Regulus, yes," He continued, coming closer, still looking at me closely. "A promise has been given to the pure again." He said, and my mind went blank for a second. Regulus Black must have been marked, something that Kreacher observed. If the two were connected, did he know something? Slowly, I reached over and drew back my left sleeve all the way to my elbow, eyes burning into the floor, unable to look at Kreacher when he _bowed_ to me. In the open air the mark seemed to pulse on my skin like a beacon.

"I've turned against him, just like your old Master." I barely heard myself say, and all of my friends started in surprise at my lie. "We need your help, Kreacher, to follow in Master Regulus' footsteps. We'd be honored to have your help."

"Kreacher will do as Mistress wishes," Kreacher said lowly, respectfully, and vanished on the spot with a loud _crack._ As soon as he was gone, I shoved my sleeve back down and quickly stood up, avoiding all of my friends' gazes.

"Thanks for that," Ron said finally, and I looked at them. Harry was flushed in anticipation of finding the Horcrux, Ron looked slightly bemused, and Hermione looked almost weepy.

"There's something I think I can tell you now about the Horcruxes." I said, and all of their faces lit up. In our past few days of boredom, I'd tried countless times to tell them more about the future, but ended up more tongue-tied then the jinx by the front door. "But trust me, it's not going to be pleasant."

"Then let's do a quick review," Hermione said quickly, sitting back down. At her move, the boys sank back down too, sharing a quick glance. "The ring, diary and the locket are the Horcruxes we know out of the six that are supposed to exist. The ring and the diary have already been destroyed."

"Dumbledore told me that there's supposed to be a cup that's a Horcrux, as well as Nagini. The other one we suspected was Ravenclaw related." Harry added, looking at the floor with an unreadable expression, most likely thinking about Dumbledore.

"Ok, try to just listen. I know it'll sound terrible," I said, and instantly regretted it, seeing the changes in my friends' expressions. "The night Dumbledore died, as the Death Eaters were retreating for good, Malfoy stopped for a second to talk to me." I explicitly said this to the floor, still unsure what to think of Draco's intentions and character. "He gave me a letter," I continued to the floor, glossing over how he'd caressed my cheek and told me he was sorry. Mechanically, I reached into my pocket and pulled out the bloodstained letter and opened it along the heavily creased lines from me opening and closing it again and again. "I'll spare you all the gory details, but at the end, he tells me that he's included a set of directions that lead to a very Dark object he wanted me to destroy."

"You didn't _follow_ them, did you?" Ron sounded affronted, and I could almost hear the scowl on his face when I nodded to the floor again like a dumb zombie.

"They led back to the Room of Requirement and into an exact location in it. Come here," I said, and got up, going back to the living room where my bag was. Plopping into an armchair, my friends sat around the coffee table as I dug through my bag until I reached the very bottom left. Wincing, I dragged it out then quickly dropped the small, heavily wrapped package onto the table with a quiet gasp. Just touching the package was like a direct burn to my skin. "Open it, I can't stand to touch it." I said lifelessly, and Harry reached over and undid the newspaper wrapping. As the last sheet fell away, the old and discolored tiara came into view, its famous inscription barely visible. I shrank back into the chair, bringing my knees to my chest. The thing seemed to shriek a kind of evil only I could hear, the same feeling I'd felt by the cursed necklace from last year. It had been almost impossible to get out of the Room of Requirement, but I'd managed.

"_You've had a Horcrux this whole time?" _Ron demanded for Harry, who was still looking at the thing in shock. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Because I didn't see you all summer! Once we were at the Burrow I couldn't just whip it out and show you, now could I?" I defended myself, then buried my head on my knees when my skin started to get icy, shivers racing up my spine.

"Put it away, Harry." Hermione ordered, and after awhile, I could tell it was buried to a level where I was only pallid, not pre-seizure. Lifting my head, I slowly put my knees back down and slid the letter back into my pocket. My friends were sitting in silence, a strange mix between elated that we had another Horcrux and something else entirely. Whether they were mad, sad or confused, I couldn't tell. It made Malfoy seem suspicious, but it made up for his prat-like attitude we'd dealt with before.

"We'll need to get the sword of Godric Gryffindor. At one point, an anonymous person will secretly give it to us." I found I could say, the words falling by themselves from my lips, and it lifted their moods considerably.

"That'll only leave us three Horcruxes, Harry!" Hermione said cheerfully, pulling me to my feet and giving me a quick hug.

"And trust me, I never will keep something that important a secret again." I said, nudging my bag with my foot with a tiny shudder.

"We should've seen the signs, I mean, _honestly._ You couldn't have looked any worse carrying that thing around." Ron said, and I frowned at him, raising my eyebrows at his lack of tact.

"So we've got to wait for the sword and track down the locket," Harry said, almost to himself, mapping out our future. Then, he scowled to himself, and I assumed that he was thinking about how we could have had it already if the Ministry hadn't kept the sword.

"Don't forget the Hufflepuff Cup and the snake," Hermione added, Summoning her own bag and rummaging through it, pulling out a book.

"Oh, and that Gregorovitch bloke," Ron muttered, kicking his feet back on the coffee table, staring at the dusty ceiling.

"Yes, the Elder Wand. Have you heard of it, Hermione?" Harry asked, and she shrugged, still moving her fingertip down a page in her book.

"It's not magically possible. All wands are equal, the wizard wielding them determines the power level." Hermione gave a reasonable, logical answer, and I couldn't help but agree. It was like saying there was one set of Gobstones or one wizards' chess set that was more powerful than all the others, and it would win every game for you, when really it was the player that won the game, not the set.

"I wonder if Luna's dad knows anything," Harry continued thoughtfully, not put off in the slightest. "Krum went from talking about the symbol on Xenophillius to Gegorovitch pretty quickly. Maybe their connected."


	6. Chapter 6

6

Sarah POV

After a few more days, Death Eaters started appearing in front of Grimmauld Place. Their presence put me incredibly on edge. I would sit in a large heavy armchair in the farthest point in the house from the stoop and try to read, to not feel. I could tell when they left, and when they either gained or lost members. They could tell I was in the house, my friends often told me that they paced back and forth between the addresses of 11 and 13 for hours at a time. During those hours, I didn't even dare to get up from my chair, secretly afraid that I'd collapse. My weakness made me burn with shame, especially when I started having seizures more often. The first bad one I'd had was when I'd been alone on the fourth floor. No one else had been up there, and I stayed up there for two hours until I had the strength to come back downstairs. Now my friends sternly forbid me to go upstairs without at least telling someone where I was going. It made me worried; would I be this bothersome and fragile for our entire mission? Even if my friends were somewhat annoyed with me, Kreacher's unwavering loyalty would take their place. He'd attached himself to me as if I was an extension of Regulus Black. He'd bring me food and extra books on particularly bad days, and was ever watchful for any symptoms of a seizure.

Unwillingly, I moved to the kitchen when Hermione insisted that we needed to plan together how we were going to infiltrate the Ministry to steal the locket Horcrux back from Umbridge. White as a sheet, I slowly sat in the chair Kreacher pulled out for me, putting my shaking hands between my knees to steady them. I couldn't relax or slouch from my rigid posture, I was too afraid. Most of my senses were bracing for an attack or fit. Despite my discomfort, I listened attentively to Hermione as she laid out the plan- we'd have to pick four Ministry employees and follow them for a long time to find out exactly where they worked and how they acted. Then we'd use Polyjuice Potion to take their places inside the Ministry. One inside, we could all hunt down Umbridge, steal the locket back, then split. As the three of them argued over steps in the plan, my eyes drifted to the windows. Just outside them, Death Eaters were patrolling back and forth. It was a miracle they hadn't sent Bellatrix herself yet.

Then, suddenly, without any precursor, all sound died, the world went black. It was just like my seizure/dream at the wedding.

"_Bellatrix, there is something I require of you." Sitting deep in shadow, the Dark Lord's beautiful, gleaming red eyes found my face, the only feature that I could distinguish through the shadows. My heart leapt into my throat as I looked back at him._

"_Anything, my Lord." I whispered, waiting with breathless anticipation for my new mission. The Dark Lord's eyes burned into mine, their harsh redness startlingly gorgeous._

"_I wish for you to keep safe something that is very dear to me, something that must never be found unless I ask for it. It must be kept safe."_

"_I would be honored to serve you, my Lord. I shall place this object into the Lestrange vault at Gringotts. It will never be disturbed unless you ask for it."_

"Come on, give her some air, Hermione!" the first thing I heard was Ron's voice, slightly amused, slightly worried.

"I'm alright." I croaked, keeping my eyes closed. Collective sighs of relief sounded around me. My pulse slowly started to die in my ears, and the cold stone floor was easing the giant bump on the back of my head from falling over.

"Thank Merlin," Hermione said fervently, and I heard her lean back.

"She's doing something for Voldemort. She's keeping something safe for him, like a keepsake." I continued, brow crinkling as I tried to recall more, tried to hold onto the dream as it slid away. It seemed silly that Bellatrix would hold onto Voldemort's intrinsic possessions. With a sigh, I opened my eyes. My three friends' heads were making a halo over mine, and each of their expressions were different. Hermione looked incredibly worried, Ron bemused, and Harry slightly curious, slightly angry.

"Did he say what object?" Ron asked, and Hermione threw him a look which went unnoticed.

"Nope," I said, propping myself up and getting the usual wash of dizziness.

"Sarah, remember your Occlumency!" Hermione burst out after I'd pressed an icy hand to my forehead, trying to center myself to stop the spinning. "You can't let her in your head like that!"

"Hermione, it doesn't really work that way. This is something I can't control no matter how hard I try." I tried to tell her kindly- she was only trying to help after all. Harry looked at Hermione with raised eyebrows; she'd been bothering him about his Occlumency ever since he'd seen Voldemort murder a Muggle family in his pursuit for Gregorovitch.

"Oi, don't start that again," Ron said, giving me a hand up from cold kitchen floor as Hermione and Harry went to bicker with each other. "I'm separating you two," He said, his chin getting oddly set like his mothers' when she was ordering around her children. "Harry, take Sarah upstairs."

"Excuse me? I didn't realize I was going upstairs, Ron." I challenged, and he looked away, instantly giving in under my gaze. . Pleased with myself, I turned to go and went drunkenly the other way, as if I'd been spinning around in circles and had lost all sense of direction. Disoriented, my arms waved with windmills as I tried to regain my balance and failed, falling over.

"He's kind of right," Harry said after steadying me. "You're strong, but not that strong." When the three of them formed a coalition against me, I had no choice but to let Harry 'escort' me up the stairs and to one of the old guest bedrooms. As usual, my friends were right, and I slept pretty well until I was woken up by a huge commotion downstairs. Snatching my wand, I stealthily crept along the creaky floorboards and halfway down the steps before peeking. Harry, Hermione and Ron all had their wands pointed at the usual cloud of dust that came with the corpse Dumbledore dissipating back into the carpet. Mrs. Black screamed until Hermione shut her up.

Once she cut out the noise, I could clearly hear who was talking. Out of the grime came the weariest and most grey Lupin I'd ever seen. He looked so miserable and beaten that it made me wonder what was going on out in the Wizarding World. After Harry tested him, I hurriedly came down the stairs to join them in front of the door. Ignoring Lupin's double take at the sight of me, (I always looked downright cadaverous after a seizure) I greeted him warmly; glad to see a new person from the outside world. The five of us made our way to the kitchen, and Lupin pulled butterbeers out from under his cloak and a new daily Prophet featuring a wanted poster for Harry on the front cover. The sight of it made me furious; he'd done nothing wrong, and now he was Voldemort's scapegoat for the problems he and his Death Eaters were creating.

"So, what are you doing here?" Harry asked after we'd broken into the butterbeers. Lupin slowly lowered his beer, looking conflicted.

"I'm here for you, Sarah." He said, putting his beer on the table. For a moment, there was only silence as I tried to understand what he meant, staring back at him in confusion. "The Order wants to keep you safe."

"I'm perfectly safe here," I said in a hard voice. I could instantly understand what he was trying to do, what the Order was trying to do. They thought that I wasn't capable of remaining with my friends, and my looks today probably didn't help.

"Sarah, you cannot pretend that your condition isn't serious-" He started, but I pushed back my chair and stood up fast, furious. Anger was filling me up from nowhere at all. "It's too dangerous for you to be put through this kind of strenuous activity!" He continued , starting to rise to match me, obviously expecting a fight.

"Dumbledore wanted me to stay, and that's what I intend to do. The Order-" I snapped, but he cut across me, rising fully.

"The Order knows what's best for you. The way you look today is only proof; you can't pretend that you aren't weak!" He shouted. After a moment, he looked down, his thoughts catching up to his words. As his voice rang into silence, my anger evaporated as quickly as it had come.

"If you and The Order thing I'm weak, then so be it. But if I can help finish this then I'm going to." I said shakily, still reeling from what he'd said to my face. "I'm willing to take the risk. And if Harry, Ron and Hermione want me to leave, then I will, but not a moment before." I turned to go, but Hermione stood up and hugged me hard.

"You should go," Harry said in a hard voice I'd never heard him use before, coming to my defense even though Lupin was probably right.

"Not without Sarah. What if she has a seizure when you lot are off doing whatever you're doing? She could get all of you killed!" For the past few weeks I'd been in the house, I'd forced myself to be an emotionless robot, and nothing that happened could make me feel anything. But those words hurt me more than I'd ever thought Lupin was capable of. He'd only ever shown me kindness, and his complete turn around made me feel more pathetic and stupid than ever before.

"Get out of it, Lupin," Ron _snarled,_ actually _snarled._ I'd never heard him sound like that either. Unable to take it any longer, I pushed Hermione off and ran out of the kitchen, sliding halfway to the doorframe before swinging around it and into the hallway.

"Sarah, come back!" I heard Lupin call, and a rush of footsteps as everyone followed me. "I'm sorry, alright, but it's true!" He yelled, the four of them skidding into the hallway as I was halfway up the stairs. _Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry,_ I chanted over and over in my head, glancing just once over my shoulder at Lupin's face before running the rest of the way up the stairs. I didn't care if he stayed or left, I just kept running until I was in the attic. The place was spotless, thanks to Kreacher, but most importantly, it was empty. Curling up in the middle of the floor, I finally broke down and cried. It made me feel even worse; usually I didn't cry over what people thought of me. But I'd trusted Lupin, I thought he at least understood that no matter how bad I looked I always was strong enough to keep going.

Far off downstairs, there was a loud bang and then silence. What were my friends doing? Did they promise Lupin that they'd kick me out? Did the secretly agree with him; that I wasn't worth the trouble? After awhile, I took deep, shuddering breaths, trying to calm down. Crying more might make me feel better, but if I vented too strongly, I knew that Bellatrix would feel it (if she hadn't already). Another attack would only prove Lupin's point- that I was a danger to everyone around me. As I was drying the last of the moisture off my face, there was a quiet knock on the door.

"Come in," I tried to call calmly, but my voice cracked from the strain of crying. I didn't even have to turn around and get up; I could tell instantly that it was Ron. What I didn't understand was the warm light feeling that came into the room with him until a soft musical cry sounded and I turned. Ron was standing sheepishly in the doorway, Fawkes sitting on his shoulder. Fawkes then flew over and landed on the floor next to me, looking at me closely with one beautiful black eye.

"We all want you to stay, no matter what The Order thinks." Ron said as Fawkes rubbed his head against my knee, almost like a cat. Cracking a smile, I unsteadily got to my feet, Fawkes hopping along next to me. Then I gave Ron a good, old fashioned hug as a silent thank you. Ron patted me awkwardly on the back, then opened the door for me like a gentleman.

"I take it Lupin left?" I asked quietly, and I saw Ron wince out of the corner of my eye as we started down to the main floor, Fawkes riding on my shoulder.

"Oh yes, he left alright," He muttered, looking at his feet. We spent the rest of the trek in silence, until Hermione nearly bowled me through a wall as she latched on to me again.

"Hey," Harry greeted me quietly as Ron, Hermione and I came into the kitchen. Hermione sat nervously in her chair, twisting her hands. The four of us sat around the table again, looking blankly at the folded up plans in the middle. No one spoke; no one had the heart to continue after what'd happened. Fawkes jumped off my shoulder and onto the table, looking at each of my friends in turn before turning back to me. Then he started to nudge and lightly peck at my left arm.

"What, Fawkes?" I asked finally, hearing the sadness in my own voice. He fixed one beautiful black eye on me, then looked at my left sleeve again.

"I think he wants to see it." Hermione said in a hushed voice. I hesitated, looking at her. The three of them hadn't seen it clearly since the night Bellatrix moved it up. When he pecked my sleeve again, I finally gave in. Stretching my left arm out on the table, forearm up, I rolled back my sleeve, looking away from it as the mark came into view. With the Death Eaters outside and the Horcrux nearby, it was an inky black, the edges bleeding away into my skin like washed away ink. I could feel it pulsing slightly, and I shuddered. When something wet and warm touched it, I nearly screamed, jumping about a foot and a half I was so scared. Hardly daring to look back up, I saw that Fawkes was _crying_, his tears landing on the mark with tiny sizzles.

"Blimey," Ron croaked, and Hermione let out a shaky laugh.

"Does it hurt?" Harry asked, observing the sizzles with almost a scared look on his face. I shook my head, looking at Fawkes with awe and gratefulness.

"It's wonderful," I croaked, as the mark started to look more like a bruise than a tattoo. Before I could stop myself, I was laughing, incredibly relieved. Dumbledore had given me priceless well being by giving me Fawkes. I knew that Fawkes couldn't cry enough to remove it for good, but by weakening the marks' power, Fawkes made me feel _alive._


	7. Chapter 7

7

Sarah POV

Thanks to Fawkes, I was able to leave the house under the Invisibility Cloak alone. It threw the Death Eaters for a loop, and it made me almost giddy. Before I'd leave, Fawkes would cry on my arm then offer me a feather from his tail. Keeping it on tight with a sticking charm, I'd wrap it like a brace around my forearm. His magic on it neutralized the mark for a good day and a half if I was in good company, but infinitely less time if I was around Dark things. My mission was to choose a Ministry Employee to watch and follow around. When we infiltrated the Ministry to steal back the Locket, each of us would Stun the real Ministry employee and steal their hair for Polyjuice Potion. Idly twirling my wand in my fingers, I watched employees go by, the scared ones sticking in groups and the evil ones in power practically strutting towards the entrance. I made sure to watch the smug ones the most- I wanted a strong position in the Ministry if we did go through with our plan.

After awhile, I saw her. The woman was a monster, almost seven feet tall with heels on. She had a long, severe face, her hair pulled up in a tight shiny bun. A pack of smokes were clutched tightly in her huge, bony hands, and her beady eyes seemed to pierce through everyone she looked at. Getting up from my spot on top of a dumpster, I dared to follow her. She had a scaly dragon skin purse; so she was rich too. "Dinah!" A horribly sweet and girlish voice called, one that I knew _very_ well. My woman turned and bared her teeth in what would be a smile and air kissed both sides of _Umbridge's_ cheeks. Of course this nasty looking woman would be friends with the sickest woman on the planet. "I heard about the Dementors yesterday. They are so eager, aren't they?" Umbridge started a conversation instantly, and Dinah nodded.

"Everyone else working was lucky I was there. You need to weed out Dementor Directional Services, Dolores. Mark my words, I'm running a department full of idiots." My woman said, her voice high, reedy and sharp. Umbridge giggled her little girlish laugh.

"All in good time, Dinah. I have to finish with the Mudbloods first." She said, and the two of them cackled together. I stopped following them, feeling sick. Now that I knew who this woman was, I didn't want anything to do with her, even though she was the best person I could hope for. _Maybe someone else will want to switch?_ I thought hopefully, then laughed at myself, turning on the spot to Apparate back to Grimmauld Place. Hermione had already been watching her target for weeks, and neither of the boys would want to be a woman.

"Did you find someone?" Ron called, then swore loudly from the kitchen and a plate breaking could clearly be heard. Folding the Invisibility Cloak as I walked, I shrugged out of my normal cloak and hung it next to Hermione's.

"Unfortunately." I answered as I came into the kitchen, plopping the Invisibility Cloak on the table. Fawkes sung musically to greet me as Hermione waved her wand, cleaning up the broken plate while Harry kept right on eating.

"Why? Are you going as a bloke?" Ron asked, sniggering, then yelped when Hermione smacked him.

"No, she's friends with Umbridge." I sighed, plopping down at the table. Harry's fork froze in his mouth, then he swallowed hurriedly, turning slightly pink when he almost choked.

"Well, that's a good thing!" He spluttered finally.

"She's also the head of the 'Dementor Directional Services'." I added, taking a piece of toast.

"Damn," Ron sighed, clearly understanding that that job would be almost impossible for me.

"I'm still going to use her," I said, and he nearly spat out his tea.

"_What?! _Sarah, you and Dementors don't mix!" He exclaimed with his usual tact.

"I've been thinking about that. They listen to Death Eaters, don't they? If I've got this thing," I gestured to my arm, "then maybe I won't have too hard of a time controlling them, especially if I have phoenix feathers on me."

"Well, it would be helpful. And a nice backup." Hermione said after a moment. "But if you don't think you can handle it, don't bite off more than you can chew."

Heeding her advice, I only watched Dinah every other day. I found out her last name was McGuine, and that she was distantly related to the Carrows. She decided how to break up the Dementor force each day at the Ministry. Luckily, I only had to decide how many went to each courtroom. Most of the time, they were divided evenly. The hardest part would be controlling them and not giving myself away. When I wasn't watching Dinah, I was practicing casting my Patronus from the weakest of memories. I couldn't lie to myself, I was nervous and definitely a bit scared. With luck, I'd see Umbridge during the day. But it also meant that I'd be the one to get the Locket from her. I started forcing myself to refer to her as Dolores, and I worked on practicing Legilmency. I'd need it to cast a specific Memory Charm on her if I did manage to take the Locket. The four of us had agreed that if we ran into her, we'd cast a Duplicating Charm on the locket to give her a fake one. With all the practice and work I was doing, plus Fawkes help, I felt and looked like my old self again. I had more energy, more color, and I'd laugh more often. To top it off, I hadn't had a seizure since the day before Lupin visited. As we got ever closer to putting our plan in action, I couldn't help but think about Malfoy. I still carried his letter with me always, and I almost knew it by heart I'd read it so many times. I wanted so badly to trust in him again, but my hatred at him for his cowardice kept reminding me of how much of a prat he was and could be.

Finally, the day came. The four of us were hiding in the alleyway right before the entrance to the Ministry, waiting for our worker to go by. Hermione changed first into Mafalda Hopkins, a tiny old witch with flyaway grey hair. Ron went next as a bloke from Magical Maintenance. Then it was my turn. Hermione, acting as the batty old witch, convinced Dinah McGuine to help her look for her purse in the alley. As soon as she'd stepped out of sight of the street, I stunned her. Ron and Harry could barely catch her towering frame as the woman collapsed. It took all of us to violently stuff her into a dumpster. Hermione took some of her hairs and added them to my vat of Polyjuice Potion. It turned blinding white, and as soon as I drank it I nearly threw it back up. My bones creaked as I instantly shot up to her towering height. Some quick Transfiguring later, and I looked just like the woman. I even pursed my lips just like she did, trying to figure out how to walk in her heels and tall frame. Harry went last, turning into the equally towering Runcorn. When the four of us were ready, we headed for the Ministry. We went our separate ways, going to the appropriate restrooms and flushing ourselves in. Immediately I cracked my head in the cramped fireplace I appeared in, and swore creatively like I'd heard my person do. Muttering darkly, I pulled out a pack of her smokes as I discreetly walked next to Hermione towards the lifts. Harry and Ron saw us and made their way over. Trying to act like Ron's Auntie Muriel, (the two women's personalities were quite alike) I even lit up in the lift; Dinah was practically a chain smoker. "What are you looking at?" I snapped at Ron, who was staring at me looking grossed out that I was smoking her cigarettes. Personally, so was I, but I had to stay in character.

"Nothing," Ron muttered quickly, looking away. At level four, I got off, giving my friends a scowl as I left, but winking surreptitiously at the same time. As soon as I marched into the office in Dinah's slouching yet aggressive stride, the mood of the office changed. Clerks sat up straighter, their eyes glued to their files, and the pace picked up considerably. Going to my office, a nervous little assistant was waiting for me, a clipboard in his hands. The poor man was shaking, but I had to be rude and cruel- that was Dinah.

"How many today?" I snapped, stubbing out my cigarette and dumping my ugly dragon skinned purse on my desk.

"What?" The trembling man whispered.

"_How many Dementors?!"_ I bellowed at him, and dug out the cigarettes again, muttering about incompetence.

"T-two h-hundred, ma'am." He spat out finally, looking like he'd just peed himself.

"Then we're putting twenty five in each courtroom. _Let's go!"_ I barked at the office in general, taking off my cloak and whipping out my wand. Luckily, (since I had _no_ idea where to go next) a frightened stream of workers shot off for a door on the right, and I practically herded them in. A short walk later, I began to feel the icy coldness of Dementors. "Well, what are you waiting for?" I snarled at my little flock of workers, and Patronus' started appearing, weak ones, but they were there. "_Expecto Patronum." _I growled, and prepared myself to answer questions as to why my Patronus had changed. "What are you looking at?" I almost shrieked as the workers turned to look, surprised. Rebuked, they quickly turned back to face the front, now terrified of me more than ever. My finch songbird raced ahead of the others as we made our way onto what looked like an industrial loading dock. The Patronus' moved around us as a _huge_ crowd of Dementors appeared out of the gloom, awaiting direction. My mark burned on my arm, and I had to take a few deep, steadying breaths before I could even speak. "Twenty five to each courtroom. _Move it!"_ I broke twenty-five off of the group and pushed them down one of eight hallways that lead to courtrooms. Leaving twelve outside, where Muggleborns were huddled into the benches, waiting, I directed the other thirteen inside. Once I was away from the Muggleborns, I transfigured my makeup to make my face have more color; I'd turned pale white after only the first batch. My skin was icy cold, and my body couldn't hold any heat. Sooner or later I'd have to leave.

Two minutes later, I had to start screaming at a poor woman who wasn't strong enough to break her twenty five up to put them in and outside of her courtroom. Digging deep into Dinah's vocabulary, I used 'imbecile, goblin-boogies; He-Who-Posesses-No-Brains', anything I could think of. It worked. My employees were ashen and humiliated, but my cover was upheld. After I'd spat on the floor for the third time (Dinah really was a disgusting person) and once I'd finished doing my last employees' work for him, that toady, sick voice called out to me. "Dinah, darling!" it was Umbridge, tottering down the hall with Yaxely and Hermione, who looked like she was about to faint. Yaxley rubbed his arm absentmindedly, and thank Merlin didn't realize that it was coming from me.

"Dolores!" I simpered, and I shuddered internally as we did the 'air-kisses' motion the two always did when greeting each other. It took a lot of work not to keep my jaw clenched in pain from the combined effects of Yaxley and the Dementors.

"Go on, I'll only be a moment." She told Yaxley and Hermione, and they went into the courtroom, Hermione looking back for only a moment. When I towered down over Umbridge, my heart leapt into my throat. Nestled among the ridiculous amount of pink frills on her blouse was _the locket._

"Dolores!" I gasped appreciatively, peering down at the locket, "What an _adorable_ locket you've got on today!"

"Why thank you," She simpered, walking us farther down the hall and around a corner, away from the Muggleborns waiting to go on trial. "It's an old family heirloom. See the 'S'? It stands for Selwyn."

"_Stupefy!"_ I whispered, and Umbridge collapsed. She was so short; I had to dive to keep her from hitting the floor. Propping her up against the wall, I worked fast. Using the Duplicating Charm, I made a copy of the locket and took the real one, biting my lip to keep from groaning when I touched the Horcrux. I could hear its little heart beating- it made me sick. Seeing no other choice, I stuffed it into my pocket, along with Dinah's smokes. Then I worked very carefully to specifically wipe Umbridge's memory of me Stunning her. "_Ennervate,"_ I said, and just in time, as I heard the harsh footsteps of Yaxely coming as Umbridge continued blathering on about the now fake locket around her neck.

"I don't have all day, Dolores," He said, and she glared at him.

"Well, Dinah, duty calls." She said, her voice like ice, and she followed Yaxley back into the courtroom. Seconds later, they called a woman in. Now starting to feel seriously sick because of the Dementors, I went to leave, having no choice but to go back to work until I could find the rest of my friends. However, not two seconds later, Hermione and Harry came out of the courtroom with the woman, looking scared but pleased.

"You've got it?" Harry asked in an undertone, and I passed it to him, glad to be rid of it. "Come on, all of you. It is the new Ministry position that you go home to your families and leave the country. We don't want you here. Now, let's go." Harry said in Runcorn's deep, intimidating voice, and the Muggleborns clustered on the benches rose up and quickly followed us up and out of the courtrooms, passing the Department of Mysteries.

"Where's Ron?" Hermione asked as our lift started to rise. Since it was just us, I leaned against the wall, worming my hand under Dinah's disgusting old cardigan to clutch the phoenix-feather necklace.

"He'll meet us in the Atrium." Harry said confidently. Unfortunately, as the doors slid open, it became clear that the Ministry knew there was a problem; wizards were dashing down the length of the Atrium, sealing off fireplaces. "STOP!" Harry bellowed.


	8. Chapter 8

8

Sarah POV

Harry strode forward, menacing and terrible on the small group of wizards who were sealing exits. "What's up, Albert?" One of the men, a small, nervous looking fellow piped up, clearly terrified to be on the wrong side of Albert Runcorn.

"This lot needs to leave before you seal the exits." Harry said authoritatively, moving a Muggleborn forward with one, gigantic hand.

"R-Right then, yeah, go on," the little wizard said, and his fellows drew away from the fireplaces. Muggleborns streamed for the exits, disappearing rapidly until most of them were gone. And then, to my horror, Dinah, the woman I'd stolen hairs from stumbled out of a fireplace and straightened, glaring fiercely at the hall.

"Filth!" She screamed, pointing at me and advancing. "Born from a pig yellow bellied fop!" She shot a jinx at me, which I easily deflected.

"Go, go!" Hermione insisted, pushing me into a fireplace. One dizzying ride later and I stumbled into the girls' bathroom, shrinking fast as the Polyjuice Potion started to wear off. Away from the Horcrux, I felt my body relax. Seconds later, Ron staggered through, trying to fight off a hysterical Mrs. Cattermole.

"_Stupefy!" _ I gasped, and she slumped to the floor. "Where are Hermione and Harry?" I asked Ron, who was shooting upwards and growing back his red hair.

"Coming-" Ron started when the two of them stumbled out of the cubicle. Back in the presence of the Horcrux, I felt my whole body stiffen again.

"Thank Merlin," Hermione panted; there was suddenly a huge clatter behind us and my left arm seared with pain, making me cry out.

"LET'S GO!" Harry bellowed, and someone grabbed my arms; and we fell into darkness. Someone was Apparating us, but it took me a moment to realize that one of my friends had my right arm, and a Death Eater, probably Yaxley, had my left, and was sinking his fingernails into my mark, trying to tear me away. It felt like the Apparition took forever. My body was screaming with pain as Yaxley drew blood as he started to gradually pull me out of my friend's grip. Suddenly, with a bang, we appeared on the stoop to Grimmauld Place. Yaxley leapt forward, a hand reaching for my throat.

"_Impedimenta!" _I screamed, right as someone seized my arm again and we vanished, Yaxley's fingernails scraping down my neck as I vanished. There was another moment of searing, crushing darkness and then in a flash of color and sound, we arrived someplace else. My whole body feeling like gelatin, I instantly collapsed, head pounding. It took me a second to realize that I was lying on a forest floor. With a low groan, I sat up and felt blood run down my neck. After a quick look around, I saw Hermione and Harry leaning over Ron, who was ghostly white except for his sleeve, which was turning bright red from blood. "What happened?" I croaked, stumbling over.

"I Splinched him," Hermione said hysterically, pressing on the wound.

"Here," I said after a deep breath, drawing my wand. "_Episkey." _I focused and imagined the muscles and tissues in Ron's arm sealing back together like I'd read in books, and, low and behold, it worked. "_Ferula."_ I added in a sigh, and bandages spun around the cut and neatly did themselves up. Slowly, I sat back, looking up at Hermione and we shared a knowing look. We'd taken Yaxley inside the Fidelius Charm at Grimmauld Place. There was no going back.

"Your neck," Hermione said quietly after a second, pointing her wand at it.

"Leave it. We've got to get under cover," I said tiredly, getting to my feet. Slowly, I walked around us in about a thirty foot circle, murmuring the protective spells Hermione and I had made sure to memorize. While I secured our new campsite, Hermione set up the tent and got Harry to Levitate Ron inside.

"We got the Horcrux," Hermione was explaining to Ron, who was, thankfully conscious now, half raised on one of the bunk beds. I couldn't help but shiver as I walked past her and into the kitchen, Summoning a Potions book and the tea kettle as I did so.

"Any ideas on where the sword is?" Harry asked glumly. "That's two we've got now, and no way as to how to get rid of them." Opening the book against a cupboard, I scanned down the list of beneficial teas until I came to the one on Blood Replenishing.

"-at Hogwarts, maybe?" Ron was saying as I came back in and Summoned the right herb out of the bag.

"But he'd have known that we wouldn't be able to get in there that well. He'd have put it somewhere more accessible, don't you think?" Hermione asked rhetorically as I ducked back into the kitchen and brewed Ron a strong cup of tea. I knew he'd be miserable and probably very grumpy from losing so much blood, and the sooner he was on the mend, the better. "Don't you think?" Hermione asked me directly as I came back in and handed Ron the tea.

"Drink that or you'll feel even worse." I told him, then sank down to lean against Ron's bunk with a tired groan. "And I have no idea _where_ the sword will be left for us, and I still can't tell you who." I heard frustration and irritation creep into my voice as I let my head fall back to lean against Ron's leg. The two Horcruxes in the room were making me feel deathly ill at a time when there was so much I needed to do. Silently, I transfigured my clothes back from the nasty batty garments that Dinah wore. Staring upwards at the top of the tent, I felt a wave of exhaustion crash over me.

"You look ill." Hermione said quietly after awhile, and I felt my eyebrows crease.

"Yeah, you should have a lie down. At least for awhile." Harry added hastily when I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Oh, alright. Till the morning, then," I grumbled, slowly getting to my feet and taking the bunk above Ron's. To my surprise, I fell instantly asleep.

"_She was here this whole time." I snarled, pacing up and down the dark and foreboding stone kitchen of Grimmauld Place. From my dreams I'd remembered seeing her in this place, so close and yet so far away. _

"_It'll be a miracle if she hasn't gone insane yet. There were at least six of us outside at all times." Rodolphus said dispassionately, flicking a wadded up ball of parchment off the table and then burning it._

"_But now that they are unprotected, I'll find her." I vowed, crushing an ashen piece of wood on the bottom of the fireplace with the toe of my boot. "And when I do, oh, when I do; she'll surely go insane."_

"_My love, don't sell yourself short. You know that you will make her suffer much more than that." Rodolphus smirked, and I felt myself grin._

Suddenly, I was awake. The tent was silent, and I could tell that it was very early in the morning. I felt like I was drenched in perspiration, and my sheets were tangled around me in an indiscernible mass. Slowly, I untangled myself and slipped quietly out of my bunk and headed outside of the tent. The farther away I got from the Horcruxes, the better I felt. Once outside of the protective spells, I took a deep breath, filling my trembly body with fresh, clean air. "Fawkes," I called, and in a flash of flame, he appeared over the tree tops, sweeping down and resting on my shoulder. I took him back inside the spells and extended the spells upward so that he could fly around a bit more. Then, I steeled myself and went back inside the tent. It didn't take me long to Summon all the supplies I needed from the beaded bag. Going back outside into the open air, I set to work on making some food. I'd made sure to take small amounts of lots of different things so that we could Transfigure them into larger quantities.

Once I had potatoes peeling and cutting themselves, I sat back against a stump, looking at the slowly brightening sky. It was all beginning now, the long and dangerous battle of destroying the Horcruxes. It seemed even more real now that we were less protected and aggressively going after Voldemort. I couldn't help but wonder if I'd be able to keep my friends safe, stay sane, and if we'd succeed. Dumbledore had weighed the risks of me staying with Hermione, Ron and Harry, but I always doubted him just a little. What if Bellatrix successfully tracked us down- would we be able to escape, or would I lead my friends straight to their deaths? The two Horcruxes nearby, even though the tiara was still hidden and wrapped, were like a slow, careful torture, and I didn't even have to wear the locket. My biggest fear would soon be confirmed or denied: was I even strong enough to search for the Horcruxes? And, my overall nagging worry was if we'd even succeed. For me, success was clear; no one would die except Voldemort. My optimist side made this goal seem plausible, but reality seriously made me worry that one of us would die in the attempt to destroy Voldemort forever. If I had to choose someone to die, I obviously chose myself. There was a target on my back anyway.

Once my potatoes were ready, I lit the camp stove with a prod of my wand and started frying up hash browns. Wishing I had eggs to go with it, I pulled out the dry, tough beef jerky and Transfigured it to a larger quantity and sprinkled it on top of the hash browns. It wasn't gourmet, but it was better than porridge. Watching the potatoes, mentally timing them until they were ready to flip, I snaked a hand down to my pocket and felt the smooth paper of Malfoy's letter in my pocket. I'd been weighing my opinion of Malfoy for a long time, and I felt like I'd finally reached a conclusion. Deep in my heart, I _knew_ that he hadn't played me, and that he really had cared and tried to change. In fact, if I really analyzed what he'd done, I was surprised by his selflessness. I would have turned on my family faster than anyone could offer me a fresh start. Our families had been equally, well, insane, and I couldn't understand how he still loved his parents, somewhere, deep inside. "Smells good; how are you doing that?" Harry's voice made me leap in fright and nearly incinerate the hash browns. Of course the guys would wake up to the smell first. "You ok?" He asked, raking his bed-head out of his eyes to see me clearly.

"You just scared me is all. This is called _cooking, _Harry, the good old Muggle way." I ended on, teasing him, slowly lifting the hash browns by magic to check the bottom. Satisfied at the browning, I gave my wand a little flick, making the hash browns flip neatly in the pan.

"I know what it is," Harry said, sounding slightly defensive, which let me know that he hadn't cooked anything in his life. "Want me to make tea?" He offered when I only grinned at the hash browns, shaking my head.

"That'd be great- but you have to brew Ron's separate. The instructions are in the Potions book in the kitchen." I directed, and Harry rolled his eyes, still batting at his unruly hair as he ducked back into the tent. Once he was gone, I slipped my hand back into my pocket after turning the hash browns out onto one of the few plates we had. I suddenly wanted to let Draco know somehow that I respected his choice, even though that could get us all killed. I could just picture him brooding in a corner of some fancy house, wondering if he'd made the worst mistake of his life.

"Morning," Hermione yawned, coming out and plopping down on the stump I was still leaning against.

"Morning," I sighed, directing my wand to cut up the hash browns into equal portions, wishing that we had bread. "How's Ron?"

"Not so bad yet," she said with a straight face, which instantly tipped me to the fact that Ron was probably grumpy. I could only hope that breakfast improved his mood. "Oh, and did Harry tell you about his dream?" She asked, quickly changing the subject, making me raise an eyebrow.

"Dream? What dream?" I directed the question to Harry as he came out, helping Ron along.

"It was nothing," he said dismissively, then looked quickly down when I shot him my best glare. Last summer he'd been all about sharing dreams and connections, and now he was keeping his under wraps? "Voldemort found Gregorovitch and killed him. I saw the face of the thief that stole the Elder Wand from him, and he seems so familiar, but I can't place him." Harry explained, sounding frustrated as Ron slowly sank down next to the campfire, tea mug in hand. I surveyed Harry a second longer, wishing that I could see the face of the thief in his head before turning to Ron.

"Feeling ok, Ron?" I asked, prodding his section of the hash browns towards him.

"Dandy," Ron scowled, and gulped his tea.

"Glad to hear it," I said with a slight edge of irritation, ignoring his mood and standing up, stretching. If I was going to be at all civil today, I'd have to get Fawkes to cry on my mark. I could feel it pulsing on my skin, as if it was a separate entity. "Excuse me," I walked away from my friends and closer to the tent, even though it made my back knot together in discomfort. Fawkes sailed down and rested on top of the tent, watching me with his bright, intelligent eyes. "Can you cry on me?" I asked him, wincing as I rolled back my sleeve, tensing up as it came into view. The whole thing had started to bruise and stain the skin around it, making it look even uglier and more evil than before. Fawkes flew down at once to sit carefully on my bicep, leaning downward to cry on the mark. Tears trembled around his eyes before one finally fell and hit the mark. White hot pain flashed through me for one terrifying second, like a peek into Bellatrix's rage, making me gasp and grab onto the tent for support. Another tear landed and the ground underneath my arm started to swim as another pain shot through me; but it was lesser this time.

Gradually, the more Fawkes cried, the lesser the pain got until it faded away all together. The mark looked like it normally did afterward, getting better, but not much better, like I'd been counting on. "Can you spare a feather?" I asked Fawkes, ashamed that I was depending so much on him. With a quiet cry, he leapt from my arm, a few feathers falling out of his beautiful tail as he soared back up to turn wide circles around the canopy of our protective spells. I plucked them out of the air and wrapped them around the mark and tied it tight as I walked back to my friends, pulling down my sleeve just as I reached them.

"Come here," Hermione ordered, and once I'd come to stand beside her, she tilted my head and healed the four parallel scratches on my neck from Yaxley. "Now, eat your breakfast."

"Yes, ma'am," I said, and she laughed as I settled back down next to Ron.

"So, what are we doing?" He asked as I started on my lukewarm hash browns. _"Where are we going?"_


	9. Chapter 9

9

Sarah POV

After a few minutes of debate, we all agreed that it would be a good idea to move. Hermione let me do the Apparating, insisting that she didn't want to Splinch anyone again. I took us to a tiny island off the northern coast of England called the Loch of Harray, something I found secretly amusing. Then, for the rest of the day, we settled in and got used to living out of the tent and leaving lots of room for Fawkes to fly around. However, the longer we sat around doing nothing, the more irritated I became with Dumbledore. So far, he'd been right, and the magic of the Unbreakable Vow had let me speak when I needed to. But now, when I wanted so badly to try and explain to my friends why Snape would be leaving us the sword, I was forced to be silent.

It was infuriating. My friends were great at brainstorming; they could probably come up with locations to hunt for the sword in seconds. They were also patient; for awhile. Harry and Hermione understood that I literally could say _nothing_ on the subject, whereas Ron, grumpy and peaky from losing so much blood, was constantly nagging me for information and for answers. Because I was so irritated and sick from the Horcruxes, my patience usually snapped in the first two minutes when I was dealing with Ron, which made him even worse, especially when he was wearing the locket. After one mini-row, Hermione insisted that I get some rest while the boys were sent out for firewood and water. Against my better judgment, I agreed, and fell asleep far too easily in the deep silence of the tent.

_Bored and irritated with Cissy, I lounged against the mantelpiece, barely resisting the urge to blow something up. The Dark Lord had interrogated Ollivander again last night, and I was itching to hurt something. That was twice now that I had to only watch, and it made me twitchy and irritated. Suddenly, the bell at the gates rang, then again. With a sigh, I pushed off the mantle and over to the front doors, flicking my wand. "Yes?" I asked, taking aim with my wand at the bust of Lucius' father with my wand, not at all paying attention. It'd be so easy to just _blow it up-

"_Oi, it's me. I've got the Lovegood girl here from Hogwarts." Rookwood snapped. I looked away from the bust and at the front doors, as if he was standing right in front of me. Perhaps I'd have some fun tonight after all…I flicked my wand again, unlocking the front gates to Malfoy Manor, suddenly eager. I couldn't kill her, but I could torture her slowly; practice for my own little Mudblood waiting for me…Rookwood jerked his head crossly at me in greeting as he dragged the girl through the Entrance Hall, heading for the cellar, where Ollivander was. The girl kicked strongly and knocked over a vase, making a loud crashing sound. Indifferent, I turned to go, fully intending on biding my time until I could have some fun with the girl when footsteps descended the stairs._

"_What's going on?" Draco's sharp, accusing voice rang out as he stepped onto the polished marble floor, the heels of his dress shoes clicking. I turned to see him smirking in the general direction of the scuffles coming from the hallway leading to the cellar. _

"_Fresh meat." I said, savoring the words. He raised an eyebrow. Usually, that would irritate me, but the prospect of torture had me in a good mood. If only Rodolphus was here to enjoy it with me._

"_I don't follow." He said dryly._

"_They've got a student from Hogwarts in the cellar, trying to make her father behave." I said, hearing satisfaction saturate through my words. For the briefest of seconds, I thought I saw Draco's eyes flash in sadness and anger before it was gone. _

"_Well, enjoy yourself," he said, sounding distracted, heading back up the stairs. Confused for the smallest of moments, I watched him go. Draco usually acted as if he was above physical torture, and now here he was, wishing me a happy time doing it? Maybe he'd finally grown up after all-_

I jerked awake with a hoarse gasp, bolting to my feet, nearly tipping over the armchair I'd been dozing in. Hermione jerked in the doorway next to Harry and Ron, who'd all been watching me, as if she wanted to rush over. Slowly, I registered the room, their faces, and then the names and faces of my dream until _my_ face darkened in anger. They were torturing Ollivander, and now they had _Luna?!_ In the dream, Bellatrix had said that they were taking students from Hogwarts to make their parents behave; that was sick. "Sarah?" Hermione asked timidly, taking a hesitant step forward. As she moved, I suddenly remembered with a jolt that I'd seen Draco for the first time since sixth year. He'd seemed so detached and cool until Bellatrix mentioned Hogwarts. Did that mean there was still _some_ emotion left in him? "Are you ok?" Hermione's voice smacked me back to reality.

"Death Eaters have started kidnapping students from Hogwarts to make their parents behave." I spat out, glaring at the floor.

"Anyone we know?" Ron asked quickly, and I knew he was worried about Ginny.

"Luna Lovegood." I said in despair, falling back onto the armchair, suddenly devoid of energy. "And," I sniffed and then quickly swiped at my eyes when I realized I was crying. "And Bellatrix is going to hurt her. She _wants_ to torture people."

"Hey, hey, calm down. It'll be ok," Hermione soothed, sitting on the arm of the chair and putting an arm around my shoulders.

"You don't know Bellatrix like I do," I croaked and Hermione stiffened.

"Are you sure you're ok?" Harry asked cautiously. I looked up, confused at his implied meaning. "I mean, we're worried; you've had that mark for awhile, and there are two Horcruxes around-" He broke off when I took a deep breath, closing my eyes, trying to summon my last shred of patience. I knew that Harry only meant well, but that didn't make me feel any better; any less aggravated. I hated to think that my friends still thought I was weak. It hurt to know that, deep down inside, I wasn't ok, and that there was a very large chance that I'd never be ok again.

"I'll be just fine," I said finally, standing up from under Hermione's arm and patiently waiting for the black spots spreading across my eyes to dissipate.

"Where is Luna?" Hermione asked softly, and I flinched, unable to help it. I could just picture Draco going down those stairs over and over again, the cool look on his face changing instantly when the word 'Hogwarts' was uttered…

"The Malfoy's house." I said in a clipped tone, snatching up the afghan I'd been under and folding it.

"_What?" _Ron demanded.

"How do you know?" Harry tacked on, almost on top of Ron's question. I winced, throwing the folded afghan back on the chair.

"Because I saw Malfoy there," I sighed, finally turning to face the boys. Harry looked confused and concerned, whereas Ron looked downright mad. "Now, can we-"

"What was he doing? What was going on?" Ron asked, walking across the room to join Hermione and me. I forced myself to take another deep breath, refusing to get angry at Ron. The calmer and more centered I was, the less affect Bellatrix would have over me.

"Ron, I am begging you. Please don't make me talk about this." I said quietly, looking back at the floor. Ron hesitated, hearing the bitter tone in my voice. "The main point is that I didn't see anything helpful. The only other thing mentioned was that You Know Who's been interrogating Ollivander, who is also at the house. It wasn't mentioned what You Know Who wanted to know, or how often it's been going on." I explained dully to the floor.

"Not _helpful?_ Sarah, don't you see? That fits with You Know Who going after Gregorovitch! He's digging into wand lore- this might even have something to do with that Grindelwald guy!" Harry interjected, finally coming over too.

"Then maybe it's about time we looked into who Grindelwald was, and why he was connected to Dumbledore." Hermione said when I said nothing.

Draco POV

I slowly sat down on the edge of my bed, staring at the floor. I'd been doing so well in forgetting my thoughts, feelings and wishes for where I'd rather be and what I'd rather support. When Bellatrix said 'Hogwarts', it all came back.

_Feeling sick, I quickly looked away from Dumbledore's eyes as Greyback called out, "It's about time you got here, Bellatrix." Ashamed, I turned, ready to take whatever scathing comment she had to offer. I couldn't do it, I knew that I wouldn't be able to, and I'd gone ahead and burned my only bridge to safety over pride and a foolish kind of love for my parents. _

"_I was a little busy." Bellatrix said gleefully, and the crowd suddenly parted. Bellatrix appeared, towing __**Sarah**__ by both wrists behind her. I felt my jaw drop in horror-she'd been caught. I had counted on Bellatrix's deep hatred of Dumbledore keeping Sarah safe and out of the way. I had no idea that Bellatrix was as obsessed with Sarah as this. "Well done, Draco!" Bellatrix said joyfully, coming over and kissing me on the cheek. I ignored that, looking at Sarah closely, feeling my blood freeze and my skin crawl when I finally had the courage to look at her eyes. They were completely black, soulless; empty. Desperate for any sign of Sarah, any sign of __**life,**__ I looked deeper into her eyes, looking for even the tiniest glimmer. Slowly, my eyes widened when I finally realized what had happened to her. Sarah was completely possessed, something she'd mentioned very briefly during our time together. If there was any trace of her, it was buried deep inside; trapped. "What are you waiting for? __**Do it!"**__ Bellatrix snarled when I didn't turn away from Sarah to kill Dumbledore. _

…

"_Enough! She'll do it for me." Bellatrix said suddenly, putting an arm around Sarah's stiff shoulders. The Death Eaters started to hoot with glee as Bellatrix removed her arm and said, casually, "__**Kill him. Now.**__" Sarah suddenly jerked to life, walking stiffly in a disconnected, broken fashion forwards, towards Dumbledore. Bellatrix pulled me out of the way as she passed us. Sarah ground to a halt, and then, to my horror, her wand arm started to rise. Bellatrix gasped after a moment, starting to pale in reaction to something invisible to us, then snarled something unintelligible under her breath, gritting her teeth. Dumbledore slipped a little lower as Sarah's arm froze halfway up, trembling. Staring at her back, I found that I was having trouble breathing, too scared, ashamed and terrified to even think. Bellatrix choked, grabbing her head in a rush of movement, face twisting in terrible pain._

"_What the-" Yaxley shouted as Sarah whirled on the spot. My eyes immediately flew to hers, and I was shocked to see the burning, unleashed fury there, even though her whole body was crumpled in on itself from pain. She leveled her wand directly into Bellatrix's face._

"_Proteg-" Before she could finish her spell, Bellatrix growled like a feral animal, making Sarah curl in on herself with a groan. Bellatrix lurched forward a step with another feral scream, raising a hand as if to claw the air. After a moment of silent struggle, Sarah fell to her knees, fighting what I knew was a losing battle by the look of pure agony on her face. Bellatrix roared something unintelligible and Sarah's head dipped, her braid falling forward and obscuring the side of her face._

"_She's stronger than she looks, Yaxley." Bellatrix panted through a feral smile as Sarah stood up again, completely rigid, and then walked jerkily over to stand beside her. "But if I can't make her do it, than I will." Bellatrix strode forward, wand raising-_

I hurriedly raked my fingers through my hair, distracting myself from my memories. I didn't need to remember again how Dumbledore had been blasted backwards, murdered by Snape. Frowning, I remembered how later, on the grounds, Snape had turned to deal with Potter instead of Stunning him and continuing our escape. It didn't make any sense. Snape usually wasn't the one to gloat or seek revenge- he had no emotions. Why had he gone and talked to Potter, and what about? I hadn't heard it; I'd been with Bellatrix—and Sarah. I grimaced, ducking my head as I suddenly remembered the last time I'd seen her—

"_Ah, Draco. It's about time you learned how this works." Bellatrix had said briskly as I'd reluctantly looked down at Sarah. Hearing her scream under the curse had been bad enough. Seeing her was even worse. Our eyes locked, and I felt a jolt in my gut when my eyes met brown ones, not black ones. She was herself again- somehow she'd done it. I looked at her helplessly, fully ensnared in my own lies and decisions, unable to save her from what was coming. The great pain in her eyes vanished as they flashed with anger, looking at me, one word hanging silently in the air; __**traitor.**_

_Then I had to watch as she writhed, shrieked and sobbed, the hideous black skull on the inside of her wrist moving blossoming to three times its size and then inch up her arm until it rested where mine did. On impulse, I blurted out the only thing that could save Sarah from the thing she hated most; I told Bellatrix the truth, that Sarah was a Mudblood. It hurt to say the slur, now that I knew just how awful it really was. Bellatrix had gone nuts after finding out that Sarah had tricked her again, slashing her to ribbons until Snape dragged her away. In those few, precious seconds, I'd shoved my hand into my pocket and grabbed the letter, kneeling next to Sarah. With a shaking hand, I'd reached out and permitted myself only one touch, a light brush along her lip and chin, staining my thumb red with her blood. I'd given her the letter, even with Potter watching, Immobilized on the ground and glaring at me with more hatred than I thought he'd be capable of. Then I'd told Sarah the truth, that I was sorry. The three words seemed so insignificant compared to my true emotion._

Disappointed and filled with regret, I slowly came back to reality. I'd been such an idiot to side with my family, to feel like a Gryffindor, trying to protect them. They honestly didn't deserve it, they were cowards, and I was ashamed to say that I'd come from them. I longed for the carefree days of doing homework in the Room of Requirement with Sarah, just talking. There was no pressure, no prejudice. It was as if I was a normal kid with normal friends living a normal life. The more I thought about Sarah, the more I wondered. Did she keep my letter? Did she even read it? And, the most important question of all; did she get the Horcrux? That letter was the only good thing I'd ever done for her, and I hoped with all my being that she'd gotten the Horcrux somehow, and that she was going to destroy it as soon as possible.


	10. Chapter 10

10

Sarah POV

"Who do you think knew Grindelwald best?" Hermione asked as we sat around eating breakfast. I was sitting as far back from her as possible because she was wearing the Horcrux. Unfortunately, that put me inbetween the guys, who were fiercely protective now that I'd 'seen' Malfoy. If they could cut my toast for me, they probably would, which made me mad, even though I knew that they were only concerned. Even now I could feel them glancing at me as I pushed my toast around my plate; my appetite was slowly going.

"Your Auntie Muriel seemed to connect him to Dumbledore at the wedding," Harry said to Ron, who grunted from around a mouthful of toast. Harry looked troubled now that he was speaking of Dumbledore, and I didn't blame him. I was still angry at the Unbreakable Vow that was keeping me from telling more about the sword. "She mentioned that Dumbledore's family was close to Bathilda Bagshot." Harry glossed over the part about Dumbledore's sister, and no one brought it up, and for that, I was thankful. I wanted to think of Dumbledore as little as possible, and I didn't want another reason to hate him.

"That would mean going to Godric's Hollow, Harry! You Know Who-" Hermione said, sitting up straight, but Harry kept going.

"Muriel said that Bathilda Bagshot and the Dumbledore's were neighbors. If Dumbledore knew Grindelwald, then Bathilda probably knew him too. She could probably tell us about the both of them. What d'you reckon, Ron?"

"There aren't any other people we know, right? Who else would we go after?" He asked, shooting a surreptitious look at Hermione to see her reaction. Lately, Ron had been actually thinking logically and then beaming under Hermione's surprise when he made valid, scholarly points. It was cute.

"I'm not saying we _can't_ go, I'm just saying that it'll be really dangerous! There's a good chance that there are Death Eaters waiting in Godric's Hollow for you!" Hermione insisted. "Your parents are there, Harry, and he'll take advantage of that!"

"I think you need to keep in mind that you're pursuing what You Know Who is doing and not the Horcruxes." I said as Hermione and Harry stared at each other, Ron chomping indifferently next to me. "Whatever wand lore he might be digging into has nothing to do with Horcruxes. We're barking up the wrong tree."

"Well, to destroy the ones we've got, we'd need the sword of Gryffindor." Ron said with an air of nonchalance. I turned and looked at him, eyebrows raised, ready for our next fight. If he wanted to say something, then he needed to say it, not dance around the topic like a prick.

"_Hey! _Maybe Bathilda has the sword!" Harry shouted suddenly, and we all turned to look at him. "She's an old family friend, someone Dumbledore could trust. Maybe he gave her the sword to hide in Godric's Hollow!"

"But Harry, everyone knows that they were family friends! Couldn't Vold- You Know Who just go there and get it himself?" Hermione said quietly. I silently agreed with her, furious that I couldn't confirm or deny if they were right; then shivered as a strong breeze passed through the tent.

"It's at least worth a shot! Ron made a good point, it's not like we know anyone else who Dumbledore would trust the sword to." Harry argued, and I got a shock. _I _knew who he'd left it to. I felt my spirits rise; maybe this was the chance, the moment I'd been waiting for.

"I know who he left it to. He left it to-" I choked over nothing at all as my friends' heads whipped around to stare at me. "To-" I tried again and grabbed my throat as my windpipe started to _close _without my permission. My body was strangling itself.

"She's choking- Sarah, stop, stop!" Hermione cried out, leaping to her feet. Spluttering and gasping, I cleared my head of all thoughts of Snape, and the black spots racing across my vision from lack of oxygen started to die. My windpipe re-opened as I wiped at my streaming eyes, coughing and cursing Dumbledore in my head. _Now _was the time to tell this, we needed to move forward!

"Are you ok?" My friends chorused, and someone put an arm around my shoulders. I was sick and tired of hearing that question being directed my way. It made me more and more alerted to the fact that I was slowing them down.

"No," I growled, massaging my now sore and burning throat with a scowl. "Dumbledore was a prat for making me take the Vow. I was this close, _this _close to telling you!" I gave them the usual tiny estimate with my fingers, still glaring. "Damn it, you know what, screw this, I need a walk." I shook off Harry's arm and climbed unsteadily to my feet. Without another word, I stormed out of the tent, calling Fawkes, frowning. He swooped down from the clouds and settled on my shoulder, crying quietly when he sensed my mood. Beating my wand against my palm, I walked the wide perimeter of our protective spells, catching snippets of Hermione trying to reassure the boys that I was just frustrated and tired, making excuses for me when she shouldn't have. As my feet trudged through the dying grass, my temper started to fade. When it was completely gone, I started to fill with dread. My temper was going faster and higher than ever these days, and usually I kept it well under control. Something was wrong.

It was Bellatrix. She'd done this before, and was probably having an easier time with me surrounded by Horcruxes. I'd had this mark on my skin for almost a year and a half, longer than anyone had ever had it on them before. Maybe I was going mad, like her. Maybe she'd seen into my head already, like I'd seen into hers, and was helping Voldemort track us down. Maybe the magic of the Unbreakable Vow was tightening because it knew I was the weakest link and that my head wasn't safe anymore. _Maybe I was dying. _One thing was clear; we needed to destroy these Horcruxes as soon as possible. Fawkes nipped my hair gently, jerking me to reality. I'd stopped walking in the far corner of the spells, the furthest away from the tent, holding myself together. I looked up at him, and he looked pointedly at my arm. With a sigh, I rolled back my sleeve with a wince and blanched at the sight of the mark. It was staining my arm again to that black, awful color. It was like an infection, a disease. Fawkes flew over me and above my arm, already starting to cry. As the tears landed on it, they burned with pain, like right after our escape from the Ministry, causing me to shiver each time. Finally, after Fawkes had cried himself dry, I looked back at the mark and lurched. It hadn't changed at all; it had only started to pulse, as if it was alive. "Hey, are you ok?" Ron's voice made Fawkes blast upward with a flair of feathers and made me whirl on the spot in fright.

"Merlin, Ron," I said shakily, quickly shoving down my sleeve as his eyes traveled to it and widened in shock.

"What the-" Ron blurted, ignoring me and pushing my sleeve back up, eyes raking over the dark, sick looking skin. "Sarah, what _is _this?" He asked, horrified, letting go and allowing me to hide the mark.

"Ron, listen to me," I said quickly but quietly, "It's just a little strong today. Fawkes just cried on it-"

"Yeah, I saw, but what did it look like before he cried on it? Merlin, Sarah!" He whispered back fiercely. He looked aghast as I flinched when he hit it right on the head. "Was it worse?! You have to tell us these kinds of things-"

"Ron, it wasn't worse, ok? It wasn't, I swear. When Fawkes cried on it, nothing happened. I'm going to wrap it and then we're going to act like it never happened, ok? Please Ron, we've got enough to worry about-" I pleaded. Ron just looked at me, clearly still horrified.

"It's killing you, isn't it?" He asked quietly, making me stop. I considered lying, blowing him off, even shouting at him. In the end, I went with a version of the truth. I knew that it was going to, but I didn't know if it was happening yet.

"I don't know." I said honestly. "If it was, I'd think that it'd hurt more; I'd notice it. It's just being difficult." We looked at each other silently for a minute, then, he spoke.

"No more secrets, ok? Please." He offered, and I nodded quickly, helping him pick up all the feathers Fawkes dropped. I let him put an arm around me on the way back to the tent too.

"Is everything ok?" Hermione asked as soon as I ducked into the tent, Ron following.

"Dandy," I said, flashing a quick smile, going to my bunk and quickly wrapping feathers over the mark, gritting my teeth when it started to smart and chafe.

Bellatrix POV

"My Lord, I beseech you. I have remained dispassionate, but I feel that now is the time to strike. You are well in control of the Ministry and Hogwarts. We could end all of this now and find Potter." I presented my case to the Dark Lord, kneeling humbly at his feet.

"This is not about Potter, is it, Bellatrix? This is about your Mudblood and her trickery." He said, and thrill I always felt when he said my name was tainted by his main point, making me scowl, dipping my head lower in shame. "The connection is strong, I take it?" He asked lightly, but I could hear the interest behind it.

"It grows every day. I have had dreams," I admitted, burning with resentment. It was good to see how I was changing her, but frustrating to see little bits of temptation everyday.

"What kind of dreams, Bellatrix?" he asked almost lazily, but with a hint of impatience.

"I have seen her casting spells in a wide circle in the company of the other Mudblood, the blood traitor, and Potter himself. I have seen her argue with the blood traitor. She cooks." I sneered the last fact, remembering how she's made tea for the sick ones, cooked breakfast like a house-witch, as if she was worthy of magic. It made me sick.

"So they travel together under the protection of spells…" He voiced aloud thoughtfully, fingering his wand through long, white fingers.

"But they are together. I could get into her head, incapacitate her, and find their location. It would be too easy, my Lord." I added eagerly.

"If they are under the protection of spells, Bellatrix, they could Disapparate before we broke them," He said dryly after a moment.

"Anything in her head is viable for me to see." I pushed forward, not daring to raise my head to see his expression.

"With the exception of Dumbledore's Vow." He corrected, sounding irate. I hesitated, wondering if I could push him further now that he was furious. Any mention of the old fart usually sent him into a rage.

"They might have other plans." I continued bravely, and there was silence.

"Yes. Patience, Bellatrix. This is not the time to strike, not yet. They will become desperate soon enough and do something misguided. If we do not catch him then, you will have free reign." He said, voice neutral once more. A wide smile broke over my face at the prospect of finally hurting the Mudblood. I'd waited for so long, obsessed over her, been tricked by her, and dreamed of her. Now I'd be able to hurt her again, hear her scream with pain in her own head, maybe even see her worthless blood drain from her body.

"May I have her, My Lord, after you are finished?" I asked, trying to keep the hope out of my voice and failing. He chuckled, the sound making my heart beat faster.

"I could not deny you; you marked her. She is yours." He said, sounding amused. I kissed the hem of his robes, once, twice, three times. Only then did I dare to raise my head, unable to keep the smirk of pleasure off my face. Now that she was to be mine, I could really cause her pain, use all kinds of Dark Magic. She didn't have to stay alive after the Dark Lord was finished with her. She didn't have to be sane, either.

"You are most gracious, My Lord. Thank you." I murmured before leaving. Once alone, I felt a feral smile creep onto my face as I fingered my wand lovingly. I hadn't thought about which spells I wanted to use, which methods of torture would suit the little bitch the best. Nearly skipping down the hall, I slipped into the dining room, kissing Rodolphus at the door. "Your pain last year was not wasted," I told Draco gleefully as I passed him and Cissy, interrupting an argument they were having.

"I beg your pardon?" He asked, sounding irritated, probably from Cissy's nagging. My sister was ridiculous.

"The Mudblood is going to pay. The Dark Lord has made plans, and she will be _mine._" I growled the last word in satisfaction as Draco's mouth fell open. "What you wanted her? Maybe I'll give you a taste, a teaser. You certainly have a claim, no matter how small it is, for having to deal with the chit." I said thoughtfully, then shrugged, hooking arms with Rodolphus again. "It's your choice."

"I-I would be honored," He spluttered, his face still full of shock.

"That's the Draco I know," I purred, then kissed Rodolphus' cheek as we walked away, dreaming of the Mudblood's pain…


End file.
